Presidential Candidates Kick Off Final Stretch to Ames Straw Poll

By Lynn Campbell 
IowaPolitics.com 

Kicking off the week leading up to the Ames Straw Poll, former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum emphasized his viability, while former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty focused on job creation during campaign stops here. 

Several Iowans who turned out to hear Santorum and Pawlenty, who made separate appearances Monday morning, said they had narrowed down their choices but had not decided whom to support this weekend. 

Santorum, speaking to about 40 people at with about half the crowd made up of reporters and photographers, acknowledged that he’s an underdog but argued that he can win. 

“You’re seeing a lot of national press here. This is a little bit of a novelty for me. We don’t get a lot of national press coverage,” Santorum told the coffee shop crowd, noting that he isn’t faring well according to a Gallup poll. “Every candidate running for president has seen their name recognition go up nationally except one (me). I don’t know why that is.” 

The latest Gallup poll released Monday showed that Santorum's name recognition has remained static since March, while most other candidates have seen gains. Results are based on telephone interviews between June 20 and July 3 with 1,000 Republicans and Republican-leaning independent adults. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

But Santorum said he’s the only candidate who has defeated Democratic incumbents in a 1990 U.S. House race and in a 1994 U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. Although he lost his last re-election bid in 2006, he said he has the right profile, background and fire in the belly to win. 

“There was a poll out just last week that showed Rick Santorum and Barack Obama dead even in Pennsylvania. For folks who say, ‘He lost his last election, therefore he’s not viable,’ I’m dead even in Pennsylvania,” Santorum said. “Yes, I did lose my last election ... yet here I am, still even.” 

Santorum was referring to a poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut that showed Obama would beat Santorum in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, but only by 45 to 43 percent. That's within the margin of error for the poll taken July 25 to 31, which surveyed 1,358 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. 

Meanwhile, Pawlenty stuck to his regular stump speech, emphasizing job growth. He outlined his plan to lower and flatten the business tax rate from 35 to 15 percent, and to simplify and reduce individual tax rates from six brackets to two. 

“If we went around this room and talked to you about what you value, what you hope to accomplish, what you need, what you’d like in your life … if you think about that list, almost every one of them requires what? You’ve got to have some money,” Pawlenty told a group of 60 employees and guests at Viking Magazine Services. 

“So for most of us, the main way we get money is to have a job,” Pawlenty said. “If we don’t have a country where jobs are growing … then the American dream for you and for so many of our fellow Americans unravels. And that’s what’s happening in the United States of America right now.” 

Ken Brewer, 73, of Ames, said his choice has come down to Santorum or Pawlenty. 

“They both, I think, are people that are committed to doing the right thing,” Brewer said. “I’m looking for both a commitment to reduce the debt of this nation; the long-term debt is one of my big concerns. I’m also looking for a person who’s committed to support the right to life and that marriage is a contract between a man and a woman.” 

Pawlenty and Santorum are expected to participate in this week's "Values Voter Bus Tour," a 1,305-mile, 22-city, four-day bus tour that kicks off Tuesday in Iowa and is expected to emphasize opposition to abortion, and support of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. 

The tour is organized by the three nationally prominent, social conservative groups: The National Organization for Marriage, a nonprofit that advocates against gay marriage; Susan B. Anthony List, a nonprofit that advocates against abortion; and the Family Research Council Action's Faith Family Freedom Fund, a political action committee that works to elect "pro-family" candidates. 

Brewer said Santorum is viable, but he chuckled when asked what will make his final decision between Santorum and Pawlenty. He said he is hoping to attend Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate at CY Stephens Auditorium here. 

“They both have a strong background of accomplishment,” Brewer said. “I find them to be very similar in terms of what they want to accomplish. They may have different methods about reaching it, but I would be comfortable if either one of them were the (nominee).” 

Brewer said that while Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann says a lot of the right things, she doesn’t have the same record of accomplishments as Pawlenty or Santorum. “That’s one of the things that bothers me,” he said. "Her reputation strikes me as a little too much like the level of depth that (President) Barack Obama had, which was very limited.” 

Harry Nickerson, 63, of Ames, a retired 3M warehouseman, said he used to be a “solid Democrat,” but this year his choice has come down to Pawlenty, Bachmann or former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain. 

“He is in the top three,” Nickerson said after hearing Pawlenty speak. “They talk like I like to hear. The thing of it is, you hear Obama’s speech ‘hope and change;’ well, I just hope I got some change left by the time he leaves office. Those two and him, their Christian faith, their business savvy, the idea of getting this country back to work. Democrats can’t figure it out.” 

Voting at the Ames Straw Poll is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum. The event is one of the nation’s first big tests of a candidate’s organizational strength. Some candidates like Cain and Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul have emphasized the need to place in the top three to remain viable. 

Santorum and Pawlenty on Monday offered free tickets to the Ames Straw Poll, although members of the Pawlenty campaign said only those voting for Pawlenty could get the free tickets. The former Minnesota governor also tempted people to attend by saying he’ll be serving Dairy Queen Blizzards at his tent. 

Stephen Bond, 61, of Ames, was the only one among five Iowans interviewed Monday by IowaPolitics.com who said he’s decided whom he’ll support — and he’s backing Pawlenty. 

“I like his ideas about how he’s going to get the economy back on track, and I like his ideas about changing the health-care system,” Bond said. “I think the health-care system has become worse under President Obama, and I think it needs to go back to possibly what it was before. As far as the economy is concerned, we’re heading in the wrong direction with all this borrowing.” 

Bond described Bachmann, who is a front-runner in the polls, as being “just a little bit too far to the right for me.” 

A Rasmussen Reports poll of 627 likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers taken Aug. 4 and released Monday showed Bachmann leading with 22 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 21 percent. Paul was third with 16 percent, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who isn't officially a candidate yet, was in fourth at 12 percent. 

Pawlenty was in fifth at 11 percent, followed by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 5 percent, Cain at 4 percent and former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman at 2 percent. Santorum didn't make the top eight, having not registered 1 percent of support. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. 

As Iowans choose from among nine candidates at the Ames Straw Poll, Perry apparently plans to make a statement of his own. Politico reported Monday that Perry intends to use a speech Saturday at a RedState conference, a national event of conservative bloggers in Charleston, S.C., to confirm that he's running for president. 

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn on Monday announced that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day will attend Thursday's debate here. In addition, he said 22 members of the Republican National Committee from 16 states and territories will attend Thursday's debate and Saturday's Ames Straw Poll. 

Despite the vast media attention given to the debate and straw poll with 700 members of the media given credentials to attend, Bond questioned the real significance of it. 

“To be very honest with you, I think it’s just a dog and pony show, I really do,” Bond said. 

Listen to Santorum speech, questions: 
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/_110808Santorum.mp3 

Listen to Pawlenty speech, questions: 
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/110808Pawlenty.mp3