“Anyone who thinks Trump’s Muslim proposal is going to hurt him in the polls should think again,” writes the respected Iowa Republican blogger Craig Robinson, a former state GOP political director. “The success of Trump’s campaign is a result of tapping into the frustration that so many people have about their government and elected officials. This issue is no different.”

Trump and his team had been thinking about the Muslim proposal for a while, at least since the Nov. 13 terrorist attack in Paris. They knew it would cause a firestorm, and it did. But reaction of Republicans in Iowa — and this is anecdotal until there is some polling to shed light on it — is that some, perhaps many, appreciate a candidate with the courage to come out and say what they have been thinking. It’s the same reaction Trump has gotten with controversial proposals in the past.

“It will be interesting to see what the polls have to say,” writes Robinson, “but the instant reaction I’ve been hearing from people outside of the media has been favorable to Trump.”