From the Iowa Republican:
“The Ames Straw Poll has always faced a long list of detractors from outside the state of Iowa. More recently, political operatives and pundits within the state say the event needs a retooling, primarily to help preserve the Iowa Caucus. Governor Terry Branstad is more blunt. He believes the Ames Straw Poll should be discontinued altogether.
“I think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness,” Branstad told the Wall Street Journal. “It has been a great fundraiser for the party but I think its days are over.”
His remarks drew a swift rebuke from Republican Party of Iowa Chairman A.J. Spiker, who the Journal described as being “peeved” over Branstad’s comments.
“Governor Branstad is wrong, and this is not a decision he will make anyway,” Spiker said. “It is a decision the party and the candidates will make.”
Actually, it ‘s probably not a decision Spiker will make either. He would have to be reelected twice as RPI chairman to be involved in the decision-making process in 2015, when the next Ames Straw Poll would be held.
“Frankly, now our time is better spent redesigning our organization, recruiting and training candidates and raising money for 2014, which is the actual responsibility of the current State Central Committee, rather than waste a lot of time pontificating over what a future SCC or chairman may or may not decide to do with an event that, if held, won’t happen for another three years,” SCC member Wes Enos told TheIowaRepublican.
Enos was also a staffer for Michele Bachmann, who won the 2011 Straw Poll. That victory was the highlight of Bachmann’s campaign. She quickly sunk back into single digits in the polls, finished sixth in the Iowa Caucus and ended her campaign the next day. Bachmann’s quick fade is part of the reason Branstad believes the quadrennial festival will end.
“You saw what happened the last time,” Branstad said. “I don’t think candidates will spend the time or money to participate in a straw poll if they don’t see any real benefit coming out of it.”.....................................
http://theiowarepublican.com/2012/branstad-calls-for-end-to-ames-straw-poll-spiker-disagrees/
Iowa needs to be dropped altogether as the first primary state.
It’s not a Republican state and their caucuses suck, big time.
Too much time and money is spent in Iowa catering to locals, only to have those preachers decide on the winning candidate.
Here’s a thought... Why don’t we make all Republican primaries CLOSED primaries?
It's time to disengage from the whole Presidential Primary process, a dubious entanglement of a private institution's expenses and private interests with the machinery of the States. It's a broken, perhaps even illegal method for choosing delegates and, ultimately, the presidential nominee.
It's tack and blinders the Party elites use to control the Base.
A Voting Rights federal case could be made that several distinctive groups of Republicans are having their voting rights "submerged" solely based on where they live.
BTW That's illegal, and it's a part of the Voting Rights Act that won't get tossed should Section V ultimately (and rightly) be declared unconstitutional.
Liberals and Democrats in New England and in other areas with early, so-called. "open primaries" have (much) more say in who ultimately wins the nomination than Republicans in North Carolina, for example.
The latter and other states, including California if I'm not mistaken, have primaries on dates selected by party mugwumps, for all kinds of ancillary reasons unrelated to selecting a winning ticket, fundraising, national party publicity interests, etc.
Regardless, the nomination battle ends before these latter primaries take place. Republicans in North Carolina have had ZERO say in who wins the presidential nominations for decades, and perhaps longer.
Want people to show up at precinct meetings? I'd take the "smoke-filled rooms" over this present crap system (mostly a product of Democrat "reforms" following 1968 and 1972) any day, and would gladly lose the media circus.
Why should the taxpayers pay for party plebiscites?
The Presidential Primary tournament needs to be scrapped.
The primaries ought to be held in the order of percentage of Republican votes cast in the previous presidential election. States that have the highest percent of their voters voting GOP get to go first. That certainly would not be Iowa and NH. Why should Democrat states and voters choose the Republican nominee? The present system is obviously a failure.
Primaries should be held on the same day.
Many of those commenting seem unfamiliar with the Ames Straw Poll.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_Straw_Poll
Iowa “Governer” “Terry” Branstad would plant his lips on ANY BIG Business’ ASS and start SUCKING. He is the very Definition of an “Establishment” “Republican” and GOP-e. He is the “wonder-boy” who “gave(inflicted)” a State Lottery AND Casino Gambling(again “for the children” and “for schools”) on this state. The “Republican” “Party” in Iowa is 110% RINO and Controlled by GOP-e.
All the states need to have their primaries on the same day; all the primaries need to be closed primaries; and the candidate should be the one with the highest vote total. This way the left-wing states and the left-wing GOP-E do not get to dictate the candidate, it shortens the primary season and thereby saves money better spent in the main campaign.
Then they need to dump New Hampshire hard and fast. For far too long that state has been saddling the rest of us with RINO’s.