Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll

It remains to be seen if this is significant, since neither Guiliani nor McCain (nor Thompson) showed up, but CRChair's favorite candidate Mitt Romney won the Iowa straw poll this weekend. It is unclear if the non-appearance of the other candidates was strategic (i.e. Iowa doesn't matter) or tactical (i.e. they knew they couldn't win). But congrats to Mitt.

Romney's win in the nonbinding Ames contest, sealed by his appeals to the party's conservative base and generous spending all around the state, underscored his attempt to concentrate time and resources on the opening states of Iowa and New Hampshire, believing that early victories will propel him to the nomination...Romney's victory came against a relatively weak field that did not include Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona or former senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, and after he heavily outspent those who did compete. Still, the result, with Romney easily outpacing his rivals with 32 percent of the vote, helps elevate him from relative obscurity six months ago to the top tier of the GOP field -- despite his relatively low standing in national polls.

"I think today, the way it worked out, is this is really the defining moment for the base candidate," Romney adviser Tom Rath said. "With Giuliani, McCain and Thompson not here, I would make the argument that this was very definitely a test of who was strong with the base. . . . We think we can expand on that base as the conservative candidate going forward. That keeps us in this game a long time."

As for me, I still do not see a Republican that I know I can vote for, since Guiliani, Gingrich, and McCain have disqualified themselves in my mind.