More On The Straw Poll…
…though our friend Ryan won’t be happy. From the always-interesting Tom Bevan:
Mitt Romney did what he needed to do yesterday, which was to come away from Ames with a decent-sized win. On Friday, I suggested a 10-point margin of victory was the minimum bar Romney needed to meet expectations, and he cleared that hurdle, winning by 13.4%.
There are caveats to Romney’s win, of course: he threw millions of dollars at the event and competed against a weakened field that did not include Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, or John McCain. Still, at the end of the day Mitt Romney entered Ames with the most to lose – always a dangerous spot for politician to be in – and he exits the event having not lost a thing. Romney’s win yesterday solidifies his standing as the front runner in Iowa heading into the final five and half month stretch.
The big surprise, of course, is Mike Huckabee. Yesterday was a do-or-die test for the former Arkansas Governor. He passed with flying colors, besting the better funded and better organized Sam Brownback for second place. Throughout the campaign thus far, the cash-strapped Huckabee has consistently outperformed in the debates and on the stump but hasn’t seen the requisite gain in the polls most people expected. He now has a window of opportunity to leverage his strong finish in Ames and move his campaign from a shoe-string operation into a more formidable organization with the capability of mounting a serious run at the caucuses in January.
And on cue, there’s a giant banner on CNN.com suggesting that Tommy Thompson is ending his Presidential run. Maybe the other Thompson will finally get in and take over the first one’s podium at the “debates”.
Ack, whatever. I never thought I would say it, but I am inordinately glad that the Democrats are almost certainly going to win this one.