“You can feel it now,” King says of a change in voter attitudes. “People are starting to see [Trump’s] personality come out, with the relentless Twitter attacks. He can’t seem to discipline himself.”

King writes notes on his hand. Sometimes it’s a random thought he wants to remember. Often, it’s a prayer list; it’s not unusual for Iowans to come up to him at gatherings and ask for his prayers for an illness, or a financial reversal, or some other problem. King writes their names on his hand and makes sure to offer a prayer before he washes it off.

On Tuesday at the church, King was listening to Cruz and thinking about Trump. He took out a pen and wrote down “Imperial pres.” on his hand. When I asked him about it — I’ve learned to always check King’s hand to find out what’s on his mind — King said that Barack Obama has already created an imperial presidency, and King worries about a man with a personality like Trump’s inheriting the newly-expanded powers of the Oval Office.