Iowa Straw Poll Canceled

Iowa GOP officially cancels straw poll

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/12/iowa-gop-officially-cancels-straw-poll/

So there's that.

The Iowa straw poll, a political jamboree that has been fixture in the Republican presidential nominating process for nearly four decades but has come under criticism in recent years, was officially cancelled Friday by state GOP leaders in a unanimous vote.

In a conference call Friday morning, members of the Iowa Republican Party's state central committee decided not to move forward with the event this summer, calling their decision an important step toward strengthening the Hawkeye State's first-in-the-nation standing in the nomination process.

“I've said since December that we would only hold a straw poll if the candidates wanted one, and this year that is just not the case," said Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann."...This step, while extremely distasteful for those of us who love the Straw Poll, is necessary to strengthen our First in the Nation status and ensure our future nominee has the best chance possible to take back the White House in 2016."

The straw poll is an Iowa political tradition that dates back to 1979 and serves two basic purposes: raising money for the Iowa GOP and showcasing the presidential candidates and their relative strengths months ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

But the summertime event has faced an existential crisis since the last time it was held, as Republican strategists and officials have questioned its utility in predicting how hopefuls will fare in Iowa and whether it's a worthwhile investment of candidate time and money. In 2011, then-congresswoman Michele Bachmann won the straw poll; she went on to finish last in the 2012 caucuses.

It had also become expensive to compete in the poll. Candidates have had to pay for plum spots at the event, which has been likened to a county fair or a carnival. Hopefuls had to shell out big bucks to transport supporters and pay for food.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) has been one the poll's most prominent critics, once saying the gathering had "outlived its usefulness." The emerging crop of White House hopefuls also showed little interest in the event.

While representatives for seven candidates and probable contenders dropped by a straw poll planning session last month, no one from the top-tier campaigns was there.

Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee -- who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses -- were opting out. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) had signaled that he would not participate. And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, seen as an early front-runner in Iowa, had been non-committal.

Even as the effort to undermine the straw poll picked up steam, many Republicans rallied to try to save the event. In May, 156 state Republican activists took to the pages of the Des Moines Register with an op-ed urging candidates to participate.

And in January, the state GOP central committee voted 16 to 0 to begin planning a straw poll. This year's version had been slated to take place in Boone instead of Ames, where it has been held in past years.
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Jeb had too much competition there. Kasich is way ahead in the polls in Iowa so he would be a bigger threat nationally to Jeb down the road if the news media covered his win in the straw poll.

btw - Kaisch and Rand are the only two that beat Clinton in the latest Iowa poll.
 
kahless said:
Jeb had too much competition there. Kasich is way ahead in the polls in Iowa so he would be a bigger threat nationally to Jeb down the road if the news media covered his win in the straw poll.

btw - Kaisch and Rand are the only two that beat Clinton in the latest Iowa poll.
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Think you are confusin' Iowa with Ohio.
 
Iowa is less and less interesting for the national election as well now for sure - especially with only 6 electoral votes

"Candidates have had to pay for plum spots at the event, which has been likened
to a county fair or a carnival. Hopefuls had to shell out big bucks to transport supporters and pay for food."

Oh well, the Fox debate is August 6, picked two days before what would have been the presumed
August 8 date anticipated for the what had been an Ames event.
 
The Iowa Straw Poll is dead

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...l/caucus/2015/06/12/iowa-straw-poll/71116276/

The Iowa Straw Poll is dead, leaving a heavier burden on winnowing an oversized GOP presidential field on Iowans who will cast the nation's first votes in February in the caucuses.

The governing board for the Republican Party of Iowa voted unanimously Friday to cancel the straw poll, a milestone on the path to the White House that had passed the strategic tipping point. It was no longer a political risk for presidential campaigns to walk away from the straw poll, and too many of the 2016 contenders had opted to skip it for it to survive.

"We set the table and they didn't come to dinner," Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann told The Des Moines Register and Radio Iowa Friday morning.

There were three reasons the Iowa GOP board decided to not go forward with the Aug. 8 event in Boone, Kaufmann said. There was too little interest from the presidential contenders; the fundraiser likely wouldn't have made enough money to break even; and there were concerns about jeopardizing Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses — Iowa party officials were getting blowback from national influencers for appearing to be bullying contenders to compete.

"Am I disappointed? Yes," Kaufmann said. "But I don't say this really with any animus toward the candidates. They made decisions that were good for their campaign. I would much rather spend my time highlighting Hillary's dysfunctionality as a potential president than trying to gain a particular candidate by backing them into a corner and forcing them into Boone."

For GOP activists in Iowa, the summertime political festival was a beloved tradition that dated to 1979. The daylong festival showcased the party's presidential candidates and to brought Iowa Republicans together for food, music and field-winnowing. But its fate rested in the hands of the presidential campaigns, who drove attendance by spending resources to haul in their supporters. Four years ago, the party sold about 23,000 tickets, and about 18,000 were purchased by the campaigns.

Several key 2016 contenders — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee — had decided against dishing out the big bucks that it can take to win the straw poll. Party officials needed at least one legitimate player to participate, but the Iowa frontrunner, Scott Walker, declined to commit or even signal any interest.
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More at link.
 
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