I thought the same thing, but…
… Do you think Obama’s campaign would have the balls to actually call out Bachmann on her stupidity and lunacy? They didn’t really go after John McCain’s rather ample weak spots.
I don’t think he would have to directly. She makes her own headlines.
Q: Which is more important, the Iowa Republican Straw Poll, or the University of Akron’s exhibition basketball game today against the University of Quebec at Montreal?
A: Trick question. The answer is that neither one is important.
I think Romney is playing the long game, and personally I think he is smart for doing so. There is pretty much no doubt 2012 is going to be close. If he can walk the tight rope of being just Republican enough to squeak the nomination, he can position himself himself for some of the moderate switch-hitters who decide the pres election. But if he goes full republican and fights tooth and nail for every repub voter he will lose more people from the middle. And if it ends up Bachman as the main contender, then it’s a good gamble in my opinion to wait for her to self destruct on her own, without getting he own hands dirty and alienating anyone. His biggest threat is the wildcard perry. Who seems to be playing the same game largely.
Now I’m not saying if Romney gets the nom he is a sure thing to beat Obama, but it is good strategy, but it’s his best chance for the end-game if he doesn’t over-commit to the getting the nom in the firstplace.
Romney/Perry might be a real tough fight for Obama/Biden.
I don’t think this poll means much. Michelle Bachmann is not going to be the GOP candidate.
The hair alone is worth a million votes.
Dang!
Ron Paul then?
Well, not before you scrape him off, because by now, he’s really burnt toast.
And according to Nate Silver, the Ames straw poll has historically been a much better indicator than any combination of polls at the same point in the cycle.
Bachmann/Paul 2012, its what the Mayans would have wanted.
Romney won the straw poll in 07.
I suspect she’ll win the Iowa caucus though. So I don’t think its meaningless, but it is just an event to gauge support amongst Iowa GOP members, not the national party. The first or second place person in the straw poll has won the Iowa caucus every year (which admittedly is a sample size of just six contested GOP primaries).
Who the hell is Thad McCotter??
He’s a guitar strumming libertarian who looks quite a bit like James Taylor.
He’s almost sane. He has no chance whatsoever.
Should be noted that the Ames Straw Poll has been held five previous times. Only twice has the winner been the eventual Republican Party nominee for President, and only thrice has it predicted the eventual winner of the Iowa Caucuses for the Republican Party. Pretty piss-poor indicator, if you ask me.
Oops. I must have been thinking of the 2008 caucuses, which I think Huckabee did win. I still think Romney took a look at Iowa’s track record in recent years (as far as predicting the nomination) and figured his cash could be better spent elsewhere. He has been here in Iowa recently … Just not really campaigning to win the staw poll.
I also agree that Bachmann is in the driver’s seat as far as the caucuses go. But as the evangelical/social conservatives have nearly taken over the state GOP, it’s hard to tell if that really predicts much nomination-wise. I don’t think Huckabee ended up with the nom in 2008, after all.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.
Remember that Pat Robertson won the Iowa Straw Poll once. The nutters do well there. Let’s hope Bachmann keeps the momentum going, though.
The annoying thing is that there are certainly women out there who are Presidential material – competent, intelligent, and experienced. Why do the Republicans keep rallying around these fundamentalist nut cases instead of someone who’s actually qualified to take the office?
Because those that do exist are either Democrats or so moderate that the tea party won’t touch them. When you put the crazies in charge, you get crazy.