Iowa Republican Party Cancels Famed Iowa Straw Poll
The Iowa Republican Party’s governing body canceled one of the state’s longtime political traditions, voting unanimously on Friday to drop the troubled Iowa Straw Poll.
The straw poll has been a quadrennial political ritual since 1979—bringing Republican presidential hopefuls to Ames, Iowa, to mingle with GOP voters and activists in the Hawkeye State.
The straw poll was once seen as a major test of support for candidates running for the White House in advance of the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest in the primary process.
But the party’s State Central Committee voted to cancel this year’s event, scheduled for Aug. 8, due to declining interest among the large field of GOP candidates and a belief among party leaders that the straw poll had outlived its usefulness as a measure of support for potential presidential candidates.
“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 state party chairman Jeff Kaufmann in a statement.
“Many candidates are still concerned about participating in an event that carries significant media-driven expectations well ahead of our first-in-the-nation caucuses,” Mr. Kaufmann said.
In an interview, he said that preserving the nation’s first nominating contest “is the most important part of my job — and beating Hillary Clinton. Neither of those two were being well served” by the straw poll controversy.
The Iowa straw poll has been indicative of nothing, and the only effects it's had have been negative. Last time Michele Bachmann won it, and a poorer than expected showing forced one of the few serious candidates, Tim Pawlenty, out of the race.
The straw poll was good for Iowa business drawing a lot of people to a state not otherwise known as a tourist destination; staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, buying gas.
How selfish of the RNC to kick all those good little 'job creators' in the teeth like that.
