Romney masters Iowa's straw poll circus
Updated on 13 August 2007
He came, he spent - he won an overwhelming victory in a state poll that's more about buying votes than mere popularity.
Thanks to his bottomless budget, the 96 members of his own family who came to support him (guess whether we're talking about the only Mormon in the race...) - and the fact that the other front runner, Rudi Giuliani, declined to take part - Mitt Romney emerged ahead in the annual circus that is the Iowa straw poll.
That's the annual political picnic-fest where Republican hopefuls prove how desperate they are to win favour by paying voters $35 apiece to turn out and - the ultimate test - chowing down on Iowa's famed delicacies, ranging from chops-on-a-stick to deep fried Oreos.
This last proved too much for the dietary-challenged Mick Huckabee, whose recent weight loss and diet book handily rule out anything that's been drenched in oil and frazzled to a crisp.
"If it wasn't food 100 years ago, it isn't food now," was his excuse.
He could, of course, have dropped in on some of the other delights of the fair: live music, bouncy castles and lots of barbecued meat.
For Romney, this decision to spend serious money on a deeply unscientific voter survey is all about winning early - and trying to build a bigger national profile on the back of any success.
The Ostrich Mobile offering free lemonade and the message that the candidates are putting their heads in the sand over social security. Or the biggest draw of all - the huge National Rifle Association stall.
Top bangs for the buck. The turnout was pretty small - way lower than 1999 when George Bush won the Hawkeye state's heart.
But for Romney, this decision to spend serious money on a deeply unscientific voter survey is all about winning early - and trying to build a bigger national profile on the back of any success.
And his team are talking up the significance of the event: one advisor called it "a defining moment for who is strong with the [GOP] base".
But Huckabee managed to poll pretty well on just $150,000 - pundits already describing it as his best campaign day so far.
And Giuliani is clearly banking on a more nationwide campaign - eschewing the conventional strategy of concentrating on the first-in-the-nation states as the other primaries bunch closer together up the calendar. Especially the big states of Florida, California and New York - in terms of delegates - far bigger prizes to win. If, that is, he's still in the running by then.
Fred Thomson - the nearly-candidate - was another no-show at Iowa, although a bunch of his 'Fredhead' supporters were there to dish out flyers.
Tom Tancredo was ferrying his supporters around on golf carts - and pushing his anti-immigration message, to some effect - fourth place is pretty good for him at this stage.
McCain was also absent - although at this stage, no-one's really missing his morose presence.
No American election would be complete without a voting scandal and this was no exception. And this scandal was one we've seen before.
Yes - those pesky Diebold voting machines let the side down again. Ron Paul tried to get an injunction against them - as it was, the vote count was heavily delayed by a malfunction involving more than a thousand ballots.
But despite the razzamatazz and the deep fried cookies - the real news from Iowa isn't great for the GOP. A University of Iowa poll shows the most popular candidate among Republican voters is - 'don't know'.
Even Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have more support than the official Republican field. The only man with anything to cheer about is Mitt Romney - at least he won the straw poll.
And for everyone else - this state is going to be an uphill struggle.
