The results in Iowa on Monday looked familiar: a bloc of deeply-conservative and religious GOP voters selected a candidate like them in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton won about half of the Democratic votes. These results show that establishment isn't dead yet, according to NBC News' analysis.
With Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump at times surging in the polls — the 2016 race has been defined by its strong outsider candidates, but in the first actual votes, it was a draw. Clinton, a deeply-familiar figure endorsed by a very long list of Democratic elected officials, effectively tied with Sanders — who few party elites have backed. Trump, another insurgent opposed by many elites in his party, was just ahead of Marco Rubio, a career politician like Clinton and a favorite of the GOP establishment.
Cruz, who won Monday, says he is running as an outsider — but he is a sitting senator with a long list of endorsements from key conservative activists. He has both establishment and outsider credentials.
