Pollster and political analyst Charlie Cook, speaking at Iowa State University today, predicted the Iowa caucuses would continue — but he questioned the future of the Iowa Straw Poll. This year, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich didn’t participate. Rick Perry
Former Minnesota governor tells Straw Poll audience that Obama "is like a manure spreader in a windstorm."
Tim Pawlenty promised thousands of Ames Straw Poll voters Saturday that he would get the job done if elected president. Pawlenty, who was the third GOP candidate to address voters packed into Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum, slammed Barack Obama in his speech, saying the president has “no idea what the country needs.” “He’s like a manure spreader in a windstorm,” the former Minnesota governor said. “We’ve got to be more than words — we’ve got to deliver. “I stand in front of you today telling you I won’t just talk about — I will get the job done.” Pawlenty, who took the stage with his family, said words have not been enough when it comes to Obama’s plan to fix the nation's faltering economy. “We know what needs to get done,” …
Former Pennsylvania senator was the first GOP presidential candidate to speak at the Ames event.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said no one thought he would go far in the race or have much of an affect on Iowans. But standing in front of thousands of people in Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum Saturday afternoon, the former Pennsylvania senator begged to differ and promised to lead the country with the conservative values on which it was founded. “You have an opportunity here today to send a message that Iowa doesn’t want what New York and Washington, D.C., and the rest of the elite media wants,” Santorum said. “(Americans) want a conservative (leader) that can govern with our founders’ vision of the constitution.” Santorum, alongside his family, was first among the GOP presidential candidates to address the …
Ankeny's Amanda Freel, 28, will attend the GOP presidential Straw Poll in Ames on Saturday, a rite of passage for many young Iowa voters.
Amanda Freel first entered a voting booth when she was about 4 years old. Her mother, Janet, wasn’t about to miss an election just because her daughter was with her. So Janet cast her vote inside the curtained booth with her little girl tucked against her legs. “Even then, I explained to her what we were doing,” said 59-year old Janet. “I told her from the very beginning that this is what we do and this is why we do it.” So began Amanda’s lifelong passion for politics, and now the 28-year-old Ankeny resident is about to add another political first to the list. Amanda will attend the Ames Straw Poll this weekend for the first time. Although she will not be at the presidential debate tonight, she will visit the Straw Poll Saturday to meet …
Presidential candidates will descend upon Iowa in the next ten days, visiting Tiffin Friday, stopping at the Iowa State Fair, debating in Ames on Aug. 11 and wrapping things up two days later with the Ames Straw Poll.
By Lynn Campbell and Hannah Hess From IowaPolitics.com DES MOINES — Iowa will be the center of the political universe the next two weeks as 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls and media converge for a presidential candidate debate, the Ames Straw Poll and the Iowa State Fair. “This is when the flag is dropping in earnest,” said Casey Mills, spokesman for the Republican Party of Iowa. “This is the first time the campaigns will have to measure themselves, both from an organizational standpoint and how their message is resonating with Iowa caucus-goers.” Next week’s political events are like “a first inning of the World Series,” said James Campbell, a professor and chairman of the political science department at University of Buffalo in…
