Governor Romney Wins Early Vote

[Nevadamedic]

AMES, Iowa (CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican straw poll Saturday and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had a surprise second place showing, giving both presidential candidates a boost six months before the state holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Romney received 4,516 votes to Huckabee's 2,587, while Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback came in third place with 2,192 votes of the 14,302 ballots cast. (See full results below)

But Romney's victory was slightly overshadowed by Huckabee, low turnout by GOP activists and the absence of several opponents. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson chose not to invest the financial resources needed to win the contest. Still, their names appeared on the ballot and all received votes.

"It is a win," David Yepsen, political columnist with The Des Moines Register, said of Romney. "But it is somewhat shallow, because his big opponents didn’t show up.

"What does it mean to get in the ring and your opponents don’t even show up," added Yepsen, who is considered the dean of the Iowa political press corps.

Full Story............
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

This is not a good sign. I don't want either of the two people who won to get the nomination. It is interesting how Tancredo jumped into 4th place and was only behind by around six hundred votes. That just goes to show you that they really didn't win by much. I can understand why a few Candidates didn't put money or resources into this poll as it really is useless.

 

[JeffWartman]

The Iowa straw poll has never meant less.

 

[onedomino]

The Iowa straw poll has never meant less.

And why is that? Giuliani and McCain knew they would be dusted, if not humiliated, so they dodged the poll. Of the remaining cadidates Romney was the clear victor. You may not lke the Romney win, but the results of the poll are meaningful. For example, T. Thompson said he would end his Presidential bid if he did not finish at least second.

 

[JeffWartman]

And why is that? Giuliani and McCain knew they would be dusted, if not humiliated, so they dodged the poll. Of the remaining cadidates Romney was the clear victor. You may not lke the Romney win, but the results of the poll are meaningful. For example, T. Thompson said he would end his Presidential bid if he did not finish at least second.

Tommy Thompson was never a meaningful candidate to begin with.

A straw poll conducted without two major candidates and without involvement of the man who many consider to be the front runner who also hasn't even declared yet, means absolutely nothing.

I don't dislike the Romney win. But a poll conducted in this way is completely meaningless.

 

[Toro]

Did anyone not think Romney was going to win? I think it was pretty much expected.

Because it was expected, why would it matter to change the perceptions? It only matters if it helps Romney change perceptions because he's still at ~10% in the national polls.

And if events that are expected happen, they usually don't change perceptions.

 

[Annie]

Did anyone not think Romney was going to win? I think it was pretty much expected.

Because it was expected, why would it matter to change the perceptions? It only matters if it helps Romney change perceptions because he's still at ~10% in the national polls.

And if events that are expected happen, they usually don't change perceptions.

Agreed. Romney spent enormous cash and time, if he hadn't won big, that would have been a surprise. I also was not surprised that other top tier didn't rate, they didn't spend the time or cash, people don't like being 'ignored.' What did surprise me is Huckabee's showing, he's got little $$$, but has done well in all the 'debates', some would argue he won at least two of them.

 

[Toro]

Yeah, I think it helps Huckerbee more than anyone.

Maybe he's the sleeper.

If there ever was a nomination in my lifetime for someone to come out of nowhere to win it, this would be the time.

 

[onedomino]

Agreed. Romney spent enormous cash and time, if he hadn't won big, that would have been a surprise. I also was not surprised that other top tier didn't rate, they didn't spend the time or cash, people don't like being 'ignored.' What did surprise me is Huckabee's showing, he's got little $$$, but has done well in all the 'debates', some would argue he won at least two of them.

Romney's result nearly doubled his nearest rival, Huckabee. And Brownback only trailed Huckabee by 3 points. In fact, the combination of poll results from Huckabee and Brownback barely equaled the Romney percentage.

 

[Annie]

Romney's result nearly doubled his nearest rival, Huckabee. And Brownback only trailed Huckabee by 3 points. In fact, the combination of poll results from Huckabee and Brownback barely equaled the Romney percentage.

In all seriousness, how did their spending match with his? I'm not a supporter, yet of either of these, I just don't think Romney is going to win.

 

[mattskramer]

Eh. Okay. He might win a few extra votes in the primaries due to the novelty and bandwagon effect per his win in the Iowa poll but in the end, I still think it will be Hillary verses Rudi.

 

[onedomino]

In all seriousness, how did their spending match with his? I'm not a supporter, yet of either of these, I just don't think Romney is going to win.

Romey's spending is a function of the donations he has attracted, which has been very considerable. I agree that at this point it does not appear that Romney can win; especially considering the fact that after much effort he has been unable to elevate his 10 percent showing in Florida. However, if Romney has any chance, he must first win the Iowa caucus and he is on his way to doing that.

 

[Annie]

Romey's spending is a function of the donations he has attracted, which has been very considerable. I agree that at this point it does not appear that Romney can win; especially considering the fact that after much effort he has been unable to elevate his 10 percent showing in Florida. However, if Romney has any chance, he must first win the Iowa caucus and he is on his way to doing that.

No doubt he's won contributions, however his own far outdistance those. Not a bad thing, but suspect, every bit as much as I would Bloomberg or Kerry.

 

[Paulie]

Jeff Wartman is right, this poll was a crock.

This is the most historic straw poll in the Republican nomination process.

This is when the field gets thinned out. It was treated like a joke this year, and that's exactly what it ended up being.

And Diebold voting machines to count a measly 14,000 votes? The election process in this country has become complete sham.

 

[SolarEnergy1]

Jeff Wartman is right, this poll was a crock.

This is the most historic straw poll in the Republican nomination process.

This is when the field gets thinned out. It was treated like a joke this year, and that's exactly what it ended up being.

And Diebold voting machines to count a measly 14,000 votes? The election process in this country has become complete sham.

If this poll is a crock then what would you call the polls that are spammed by the Ron Paul poppinjays? It just goes to show that you need more than spammers and hackers and radical fanatics to make a campaign

 

[onedomino]

Romney's No Problem, Say Rudy, McCain

BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, August 13th 2007, 4:00 AM

complete article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_...08-13_romneys_no_problem_say_rudy_mccain.html

WASHINGTON - The Rudy Giuliani and John McCain camps brushed off the Iowa straw poll as a meaningless preseason game, while winner Mitt Romney yesterday gloated that his rivals chickened out.

"I think if they thought they could have won, they would have been here," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday."

The former mayor and Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) blew off the poll by deciding, "Gosh, Mitt Romney's message and his resources and his ground team is so strong, we can't compete there," Romney said.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who finished second in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll Saturday with 18% of the ballots compared with Romney's 32%, joined Romney in ripping the other GOP contenders and also set off the battle of the sports analogies.

"What they did was forfeit the game," Huckabee said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"If you forfeit, it's a loss."

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, a McCain adviser, shot back that "It was an NFL exhibition football day" in Iowa. "It didn't count. The first team quarterbacks didn't play," Roemer said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

-

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

If this poll is a crock then what would you call the polls that are spammed by the Ron Paul poppinjays? It just goes to show that you need more than spammers and hackers and radical fanatics to make a campaign

yeah totally, you need to spend something like $2k per vote like Romney did

 

[Paulie]

Spammers and hackers???

That's such bullshit. Ron was only about 3,000 votes behind Romney, which is really NOTHING considering the vote total.

If you watched the speeches on C-SPAN, you would have noticed that Ron had absolutely WAY more support than any other candidate there. If they weren't waving signs, they were back in the audience clapping.

You can say his campaign is kept afloat by internet hackers all you want, but his placing in that poll shows in reality that he is a lot more relevant than you may want to believe.

 

[Avatar4321]

Tommy Thompson was never a meaningful candidate to begin with.

A straw poll conducted without two major candidates and without involvement of the man who many consider to be the front runner who also hasn't even declared yet, means absolutely nothing.

I don't dislike the Romney win. But a poll conducted in this way is completely meaningless.

I completely disagree. The fact that two major candidates dropped out is strong evidence that they arent as strong as they want people to think. I think its a good victory for Romney. It certainly gives him more name recognition. And from what I saw its jumped his poll numbers in some of the other states such as South Carolina. Seems a good victory for him.

And it certainly helped Huckabee.

 

[JeffWartman]

I completely disagree. The fact that two major candidates dropped out is strong evidence that they arent as strong as they want people to think.

Wrong. Frontrunners have never liked straw polls to begin with. That's just how it works, buddy.