# And the first casualty in the GOP 2016 presidential election is...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [June 28, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676 "2015-06-28T05:19:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676/1 "2015-06-28T05:19:40Z")

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… the Iowa straw poll. Or is it a caucus?

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676/2 "2015-06-28T05:29:55Z")

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The Ames straw poll and the Iowa caucus are different things. The straw poll was meaningless in terms of the nomination, an extremely poor predictor of success, and was mainly a money grab by local businesses. Good riddance.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676/3 "2015-06-28T14:07:26Z")

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It was a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party, so the money went there.

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-casualty-in-the-gop-2016-presidential-election-is/723676/4 "2015-06-28T14:53:48Z")

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As always, truth.