That would be awesome news for him if it didn't come on the same day as this: Herman Cain, Mitt Romney lead new Iowa Poll DES MOINES REGISTER 7:00 PM, Oct 29, 2011 DES MOINES, Iowa – Herman Cain and Mitt Romney top The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll, with the retired pizza executive edging the former Massachusetts governor 23 percent to 22 percent in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Cain has surged 13 percentage points since the first Iowa Poll of the caucus cycle, conducted in late June. His rise has come despite spending little time in Iowa recently, campaigning here just once since the Aug. 13 Iowa straw poll, where he placed fifth. Likewise, Romney has campaigned in Iowa just three times this year, but he retains a core network of supporters from his near-constant presence in the state during his first presidential bid four years ago. In the new poll, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is the only other candidate in double digits, in third place with 12 percent. The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 3. The Iowa Poll, a Register exclusive since 1943, is a much-watched indicator of how candidates are faring in the nation’s leadoff caucus state. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, winner of the Iowa straw poll, has seen her popularity wane. In the June Iowa Poll, she enjoyed support of 22 percent of respondents, trailing poll leader Romney by a single percentage point. She has dropped to 8 percent and fourth place in the new poll. Texas Gov. Rick Perry was not yet a candidate when the June poll was conducted. But he soared to the top of national polls when he entered the race in August. However, after a string of much-criticized debate performances, his star dimmed nationally. He’s at 7 percent in the new Iowa Poll, tied with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich for fifth place. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has spent more time in Iowa than any other candidate, visiting more than 70 of Iowa’s 99 counties. But at 5 percent support, he continues to lag most of the field. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is not campaigning in Iowa, gets 1 percent. The Iowa Poll was conducted Oct. 23 to 26 for The Des Moines Register by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. The poll is based on telephone interviews with 400 likely Republican caucusgoers. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Read complete poll results in Sunday’s Des Moines Register and at DesMoinesRegister.com http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/10/29/cain-romney-lead-new-iowa-poll/
Cannot believe AB left us hanging without a Cain report. Either sincere or trying out some punchlines.
Of course, the Iowa straw poll has a fee to vote, and Ron Paul paid for his people to vote. If only that were legal in the real election... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/29/ron-paul-wins-iowa-straw-poll_n_1065579.html MSNBC reports that Paul's campaign purchased a large number of tickets for the straw poll and distributed them to supporters for $10, half off the price. Cain's campaign reportedly also purchased a large number of tickets and was selling them for $20 but had difficulty distributing all of them.
These are a disgrace to our democracy. It's great that Ron Paul fanatics are making them completely irrelevant this go-round.
They are campaign fundraisers for state parties. The Iowa Republican Party is milking the stupidity of the American media who takes these joke polls seriously. The disgrace is our fixation on these things as metrics of something. They're blatant fundraisers. The Iowa Straw poll is the largest fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party. We're the enablers of such a thing by creating the incentives for candidates to buy votes for these things. I can't fault the Iowa Republican Party or the candidates on this one. They both have their own interests. It's our collective fault that these things have perceived value.
I don't fault people in Iowa. Why should they voluntarily give up this inordinate amount of influence and power over choosing our presidents, especially when it raises money? It's isn't just the media though. Both major parties endorse this joke of a system every 4 years. Even more pathetic, whenever a state moves a legit primary earlier in the calendar, Iowa responds by moving their caucuses earlier. Nobody's gonna snatch this from their cold, dead hands. For the record, I'm a midwestern guy and believe that region is more representative of the country as a whole than any other. But for kook party activists (on both sides) in such a tiny state to be at the wheel blows my mind.
How so? There are far more people living on the coasts. About 160 million of the nations 308 million people (roughly 52%) live on the West and East Coasts (not including Alaska or Hawaii as coast states). If anything, those would be the areas that are the most representative with 16 states having more than half of the people.
I believe the midwest is more in line with the political center of where most Americans overlap even though population centers on the coasts are greater. The east coast isn't really a region anyway. It should be split between the northeast and southeast, which are very politically different from each other.
I've never lived in the Northeast, but the Midwest is nothing to brag about when it comes to Mexican food, either.
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