After the results of the Iowa Straw Poll came out, people began swarming around the idea that if you weren’t first or second you were pretty much done. But without looking at the larger picture, you tend to forget that the biggest thing to take away from the results is that Mitt Romney got it handed to him by Rick Perry, who got more write-in votes than actual votes for Romney. 712 write-ins for Rick Perry, who had only announced his candidacy hours earlier, versus the 567 votes for Romney? Darn right that’s big.
You see, Romney openly said that he wasn’t putting a great deal into the straw poll. He knew that not only would he not win against Bachmann and Paul, but that there are far more battle-ground states looking for attention. Which is why he was in New Hampshire. He knows how to read the polls and put together the strategy needed to carry himself from state to state, and continue to bring in funding.
Speaking of funding. Funding is something that Bachmann and the other candidates must rally forward to fill their accounts. While Romney was holding back on spending millions on campaign commercials, Michele Bachmann was dishing it out. She was reported to have spent the most on ads. And, if you call winning the straw poll a victory, then so be it. But, when you claim yourself to be a conservative and debate spending cuts for Washington, only to throw all your eggs in same basket, Iowa, you tend to suffer rallying financial support to continue.
But now you ask: ‘What about Ron Paul?’ True, he did come in second. But he always does good in straw polls. His problem is that he has yet to figure out how to turn strong showings in straw polls to actual voters. That, and the GOP shuns him. Why? After all, his talk and record is far more libertarian/conservative than any of the other candidates.
That’s really the only thing to take away from this poll. You may ask about the other candidates and why they may stay or go, but that’s really all it is. Talk. For the most part, nothing will change until after the next major debate. For now, you can eliminate the bottom two: John Huntsman and Thaddeus McCotter. The poll clearly shows they don’t have a base that is needed to move on.
Newt Gingrich shows nothing. One look at his record, political and personal, would turn many people off from giving support his way. Herman Cain and Rick Santorum look more like a wild card than anything else. Cain has only one strong point to run with, and that is he has some private sector experience and talks about the economy. If you look at the debate from the other night, you will see how he slants every answer over to the subject of economy. He is too much of a rookie in everything else. He has nothing for foreign policy, entitlement reform, and Obamacare reform. Those are three-fourths of the biggest issues that Americans are facing right now.
With Santorum, time is too soon for him. As well as with Pawlenty. Even though Tim Pawlenty faired well with a third place finish, he sill only had half the votes of second place Ron Paul. So, to say that Pawlenty and Santorum are ready to be done would be too early. Give them until the next big debate for people to get a better stance on them.
But wait! You forgot about Sarah Palin. True. Palin has yet to make her decision on whether to run or not. So, she wasn’t counted. But, she could be a thorn in the side of Bachmann. Right now, Bachmann is pulling the women voters and the majority of the Tea Party voters. Two voting blocks that would tend to lean toward Palin as well. So, for right now, class Sarah Palin in the wild card slot.