A day at the Straw Poll

I arrived in Ames with my professor and advisor Dr. Rachel Caufield around 11:00 on Saturday. We arrived on Campus with an interesting mixture of Ron Paul supporters, anti-war signs, and people doing visibility. Frm. Governor Mitt Romney deployed a group of golfcarts to shuttle people the sometimes big distance to the activities.

After a lengthy walk, we reached Hilton where the candidates had their tents. It was overwhelming at first to come to the large setups of Senator Brownback (KS) and Governor Romney, who had large food serving operations, legions of volunteers, inflatibles and rock climbing walls for kids, and live music. The other side of the arena was more subdued, where the lesser known candidates set up shop; again offering food and entertainment. I was fed by Huckabee (Amazing Arkansas watermelon), Brownback and Thompson (gave me some chips and cookies), and interest groups like ED in 08 provided water and ice cream to keep me going through the very hot day. The atmosphere is something that is unmatched, candidates and major figures walking and talking with the masses, entertainment and free food, and campaign workers trying to make sure you cast your ballot for their guy. What a way to do politics!

Inside the arean I was able to see every candidate speak. The order was Romeny, Tancredo, Cox, Paul, Huckabee, Hunter, T. Thompson, and Brownback. When I first got inside there was probaly around 7000-8000 or more people in the seats watching the candidates being introduced. A large number of attendees were wearing yellow "Team Mitt" shirts. Each candidate was given 15 minutes to speak, while their supporters where brought to the floor before the speech (a process that went surprising smooth for the number of people). One interesting occurance was when the Ron Paul supporters entered with their singnature chanting parades (Question:"Who do we call?" Crowd Response "Ron Paul!") the emcee Laura Ingraham's introduction could not be well heard, causing her to remark, "The inmates have left the asylum."

I won't go into the speeches but here is link to some highlights from the Register. Some of the lines that stood out most for me were Romeny's saying change in Washington begins in Iowa, since it seems as a way to put some distance between him and Bush. Huckabee made a shot a Romney and Brownback's Straw Poll spending with this: "Let me say it very clear today. I'm not the best-funded candidate in America, I can't buy you. I don't have the money. I can't even rent you."

After a little more observing, picking up literature, and eating I was able to cast a ballot. There was high security before voting, a Iowa photo ID was needed and each person had to ink their finger so they could only vote once. By 5:00, we called it a day and headed back to Des Moines to await the results. The results of course were delayed due to voting machine problems for more than an hour and half after the expected announcement time of 7:00 PM. I was on the edge of seat at home waiting for results.

Here they are:
1. Mitt Romney 4,516 31.6%
2. Mike Huckabee 2,587 18.1%
3. Sam Brownback 2,192 15.3%
4. Tom Tancredo 1,960 13.7%
5. Ron Paul 1,305 9.1%
6. Tommy Thompson 1,039 7.3%
7. Fred Thompson 203 1.4%
8. Rudy Giuliani 183 1.3%
9. Duncan Hunter 174 1.2%
10. John McCain 101 0.7%
11. John Cox 41 0.3%

Obviously a big day for Romney as he cements his lead in Iowa with this win and leading in the polls. But the biggest story so far has been the surprise finish of Governor Huckabee who was outspent by Romney and Brownback (and possibly others) in preparing for the Straw Poll. Huckabee now has a chance to get the support of social conservatives that he and Brownback were both competing for and a chance to appeal for more fundraising dollars nationally. Romney has to also defend his win in the face of lower turnout this year over 1999 and three big contenders sitting the contest out.

It was a great day, one that I was looking forward to since the beginning of the year. Above I will post a few photos from the event. Hope you enjoy.