Stories

If you think the 2007 Iowa Republican Party straw poll in Ames, conducted just a few weeks ago, is old news, then you certainly think the 1999 straw poll is ancient history.
In that case, think of this story as the first insight to the straw poll of 2011.
That's because looking back to 1999 – before [...]

New poll numbers from the American Research Group reveal significant improvement in former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s standing in Iowa, bouncing to 14% support after the Iowa Republican Straw Poll earlier this month.  ARG’s polling indicated that Huckabee had the support of only 1% of Iowa Republican caucus-goers last month.

While the ARG’s likely caucus-goer screen is [...]

Rather than kicking his Iowa campaign up a notch, second-place Ames Straw Poll finisher Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas downsized his Iowa operation to just three paid staffers in the wake of his low-budget achievement.

“Right now were back down to three. We had, gosh 16 or 18 here for the Straw Poll,” Huckabee Iowa campaign [...]

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback’s campaign shut down his second Iowa office, opened in Ames on June 21, after a third-place finish in the Ames Straw Poll earlier this month.

The campaign continues to operate out of its lone Iowa office in West Des Moines.

Iowa campaign spokesman John Rankin was unavailable for comment; a receptionist said he [...]

The American Spectator’s blog reports that the Federal Election Commission is investigating the role of a home schooling group in former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Ames Straw Poll finish, and may expand the investigation to include FairTax.org:
While the Huckabee campaign bought a number of tickets to the straw poll for its supporters, it didn’t arrange [...]

The Republicans like photo ID to vote requirements.  In 2006 this was the main Iowa Legislature holdup to paper trails on touch-screen voting machines.  And in the run-up to Ames, the Republican Party of Iowa took shots at the Democrats on ID and election-day voter registration in their media kit:
The Republican Party believes all official [...]

In the land of punditry, many people get things wrong without consequence, but few are praised for getting things right. One person who called the Mike Huckabee upset in the Ames Straw Poll correctly was the Rev. Bill Devlin, president of the non-partisan group Redeem the Vote, which works to register Christians between 18 and [...]

Mike Huckabee is just as comfortable chatting about agriculture as he is about the Fair Tax.
As the former governor of Arkansas was busy campaigning in Des Moines Friday in the closing hours before the Ames Straw Poll, he stopped for a few moments to talk farm policy with Iowa Independent.
The Republican candidate has a keen [...]

Political/Veterans’ Front
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may have won the Ames Straw Poll fundraiser Saturday, but his “surge for support” in the veterans’ community had trouble gaining traction in the days leading up to the event.

“Iraq Vet Confronts Mitt”: While stumping at the Iowa Sate Fair on Thursday, Romney was confronted by wounded Iraq [...]

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson is a man of his word. Just before the Ames Straw Poll he told the press that a poor showing would prompt him to re-think his run for the nation’s highest office. Tonight, roughly 24 hours after placing sixth while garnering just over 7 percent of the votes, the Republican [...]