Tough to tell if Thompson is gaining in Iowa

USA Today | 12.22.07 | Williams Theobald

[Free Vulcan]

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[Free Vulcan]

Gannett paper - link only:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-22-thompson-iowa_N.htm

[Free Vulcan]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-22-thompson-iowa_N.htm

[Always Right]

Fred’s gaining, although not fast enough to win. I think he will have a strong 2nd or 3rd place in Iowa with a bit over 20% of the vote.

[jellybean]

[pcottraux]

I don’t think Fred’s goal is to win Iowa...just get high enough to keep himself alive and in the game as the primaries continue afterwards.

[P. James Moriarty]

A strong showing in Iowa is all it will take to get the ball really rolling. A strong second or, if lightning strikes a weak first, would so shock the MSM that Fred! would have more free media than he would know what to do with and his national numbers would change with the increased coverage.

[airborne]

Iowa caucuses seem to be designed to benifit the wealthier candidates.

This explanation from Wikipedia -- "The Republican caucuses are a straw poll where each voter casts his or her vote by secret ballot. Voters are presented blank sheets of paper with no candidate names on them. After listening to some campaigning for each candidate by caucus participants, they write their choices down and the Republican Party of Iowa tabulates the results at each precinct and transmits them to the media. [1] The non-binding results are tabulated and reported to the state party which releases the results to the media." -- makes me think this system is so antiquated that it isn't all that reliable a measuring stick for any candidate.

The subsequent primary elections will be much more telling, IMHO.

I wonder whether this caucus will be more for the media than it is for the voters.

[Parley Baer]

I agree. That is the immediate goal. Finish high enough to keep alive. Go Fred.

[Domangart]

This is front loaded as anyone knew long ago. As much as I like Fred who is clearly the best man, his lack of fire like Rudy is a draw back. The winner must appeal to a wide group of voters in select states. It doesn’t matter if the Hildibeasty wins Cal by 10,000,000 votes. She is still a no sale in a lot of the US. When this is over we will wonder how the next Bob Dole slipped in there.

[billorites]

"Finish high enough to keep alive. Go Fred."

Oooh. Dare to dream big dreams...

I could not be more underwhelmed.

[hinckley buzzard]

I would really like to see Fred rally to a viable finish in Iowa. Now that the Huckabee has shown himself to be a worthless snake in the grass, and Romney still gives off bad vibes about sincerity(an irrational response, I know, but I trust my gut), Fred is the only viable conservative in the race. Hunter would be great but he's dead in the water.

Any Iowans here, please caucus for Thompson.

[Last Dakotan]

Iowa caucuses seem to be designed to benifit the wealthier candidates.

Iowa caucuses are designed benefit the farm lobby.

[billorites]

"Tough to tell if Thompson is gaining in Iowa"

Oh, c'mon.

Tough to tell?

Tough to accept is more like it...

[BfloGuy]

I could not be more underwhelmed.

It's funny; that was my exact reaction to your post.

[Octar]

This Iowa “caucus” is a joke. I’m amazed anyone pays any attention to it. It is indicative of nothing.

[Free Vulcan]

I feel that if Fred can get 1) at least 3rd, 2)over 20%, and 3) within 5% of 2nd place, that will blow people’s socks off. We shall see.

What gets more intersting is if Huckabee wins IA, McCain wins NH and Romney Michigan, if Fred can concentrate on SC and FLA and win one or hopefully both, he’d be sitting good for super Tuesday.

[zeebee]

Yes, but a surprise winner will surely turn heads.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

My household has two Fred votes, my three sisters and their three husbands are 6 more. My niece and her husband are his Sioux Co. chairman so there's 2 more. Several of my friends are also moving to Fred.

I know of far more support for Fred than for any other candidate. As a matter of fact, I have one friend who is Huck and another Romney but the Romney one could be moving to Fred.

I know of two homeschooling families that are close to leaving Huck for Fred. We'll see.

[Free Vulcan]

Actually, Iowa is almost the anti-predictor of the nominee. Usually who wins here doesn’t get the nomination...in both parties. In that alone Iowa has value.

[Politicalmom]

Ooh. Keep up the good work. Go to town at church tomorrow!! :)