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What the Media Should Report About the Ames Straw Poll David Terr Lead Analyst Ph.D. Math; Berkeley 8/12/07 Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul Were Clear Winners, Mitt Romney Was a Loser "Often, however, the media do not actually interpret poll results, but instead present simple, straightforward descriptive statements about them... Measures of association, correlation analysis, and multivariate statistical analyses are virtually nonexistent" - Asher, Ohio State University I would first like to congratulate Mitt Romney for his impressive win at the Ames Straw Poll before I start criticizing him and tell you what the media is not reporting. Candidate Official...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- This weekend's Republican straw poll is being challenged by a national group that is threatening legal action over the voting machines that the Republican Party of Iowa is using. A supporter of candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who is not connected to the campaign, made the legal threat, Des Moines television station KCCI reported. The Iowa GOP said the straw poll is fraud-proof. At a Creston restaurant, Paul greeted people Wednesday and hoped some of them would vote for him at the Ames straw poll. "It's pretty important and if we do well, we'll certainly send...

CEDAR RAPIDS - Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul's ``freedom revolution'' hit Cedar Rapids tonight, gathering up recruits with calls to end the war in Iraq ``and the war on our liberties'' at home. More than 200 people, many who said they had never been involved in politics , cheered his call for abolishing the income tax, leaving the United Nations, returning to sound monetary policies and the end of entitlement programs that erode personal freedom. ``People believe government will take care of us,'' said Paul, who called himself a ``reluctant candidate.'' ``They talk about entitlement as if they are...

Paul Camp May Catch Romney’s Bus Ron Paul’s supporters are actively encouraging Iowa voters to take advantage of Mitt Romney’s offers of free transportation to the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday and then, once they are there, to vote for Mr. Paul.... “Some say if Mitt is willing to bus Iowans to Ames for the straw poll, they should take him up on his offer!” says a flier in Iowa and on the Internet ...The flier is topped with a banner that says “2008 Ron Paul News,” but Jesse Benton, a campaign spokesman, said it was the handiwork of independent...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The wife of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul had surgery this morning to install a pacemaker. A statement from Paul's campaign says that the surgery on Carol Paul was a success and that she is expected to make a full recovery. Carol Paul went into the hospital yesterday after suffering from an irregular heartbeat.

In 1985 a prominent liberal legal figure argued that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion, was a “heavy-handed judicial intervention” that “was difficult to justify and appears to have provoked, not resolved, conflict.” The writer was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court—and also now a strong supporter of Roe. Ginsburg isn’t the only backer of abortion rights to have taken issue with the 1973 decision. In 1995, for example, the University of Chicago’s Cass Sunstein, a superstar among liberal law professors, wrote in the Harvard...

Special contributor Jennifer Reynolds suggests that 2008 US Presidential candidate Ron Paul may be the only hope of avoiding a draft. The subject of a draft came into play this week. A top U.S. military officer in charge of co-ordinating the U.S. war effort in Iraq said yesterday that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the U.S. military's needs. Lieutenant-General Douglas Lute, said the all-volunteer military is serving "exceedingly well" and the administration has not decided a draft is needed. But in an interview with National Public Radio, he said, "I think it makes...

By the time the writing of this sentence is finished, Tommy Thompson should be out of the presidential race. The 67-year-old former Wisconsin Governor and Bush cabinet member had been unusually honest in playing the expectation game before today’s Iowa Straw Poll. “I've said all along that if I don't come in first or second, I'll drop out of the race,'' he reminded the media earlier this week. Well, the votes are now in and tallied, and Mr. Thompson came in sixth. If this does indeed mean death-by-straw-poll for the Thompson effort, it can be considered a mercy killing. His...

A Republican victory in 2008 could sink America's reputation in the world even lower. Even if George W. Bush is the most awful American president in modern times, as many historians believe, and even though he has brought the United States into unprecedented disrepute around the world, as opinion polls indicate, the bombastic tone of the candidates seeking to succeed him from his own party raises a disturbing possibility. If the next president is a Republican, this truly bad situation could become still worse. Concerning the Iraq war, of course, there is no discernible difference between the current president and...

Ron Paul’s supporters are actively encouraging Iowa voters to take advantage of Mitt Romney’s offers of free transportation to the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames on Saturday and then, once they are there, to vote for Mr. Paul. “Some say if Mitt is willing to bus Iowans to Ames for the straw poll, they should take him up on his offer!” says a flier in Iowa and on the Internet in advance of the straw poll for the Republican presidential candidates. The flier says that after riding the Romney bus to Ames, and allowing the Romney campaign to pay one’s...

On Eve of Straw Poll, Ron Paul Says GOP Has Lost its Way by: T.M. Lindsey Friday (08/10) at 17:16 PM GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul will be the first to admit that he's still trying to catch up with the "Ron Paul Revolution." During a telephone interview before a rally in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, the congressman from Texas confessed: "In many ways, I joined the group of people who started the Ron Paul Revolution, because I also wanted to see significant changes in this country."Paul added, "I, kiddingly but somewhat seriously, say thanks for inviting me to the...

If there is one man who elicits a strong response across the gamut of GOP constituencies, it is Texas Republican congressman and presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul. Because he is a genuine libertarian, Paul has been a gadfly to liberals and conservatives alike since his first election in Texas to the U.S. House in 1976, and his long-time presence in the GOP is an anomaly that deserves attention. Ron Paul, a ten-term congressman, small-town doctor, retired Air Force officer and great-grandfather is, indisputably, a gentleman. In a legislative body where integrity seems an increasingly rare quality, Paul's is unquestioned. Not...

Today's Iowa straw poll isn't merely a test for Mitt Romney, who leads in Iowa in the latest Washington Post/ABC news poll and has easily outspent the rest of the GOP field. It's also a test for the Paulites -- the undeniably loyal and undeniably Internet-savvy followers of Rep. Ron Paul. His YouTube videos are the most viewed of any presidential candidate -- yes, more than Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. He has more MySpace friends than Romney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former senator Fred Thompson combined. His online followers, many of them live-and-let-live libertarians, were essential to...

<p>I didn't see a live thread for the Iowa Straw Poll, so I figured I would start one in case anyone else is watching and wants to comment.</p>

If there is one man who elicits a strong response across the gamut of GOP constituencies, it is Texas Republican congressman and presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul. Because he is a genuine libertarian, Paul has been a gadfly to liberals and conservatives alike since his first election in Texas to the U.S. House in 1976...and deserves attention. Contrary to Congress’ dreams of ever-increasing power, Dr. Paul’s congressional career is laced with legislation that seeks to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. During his first stint in the House (1976-1984), Paul served on the House Banking Committee, where...

AMES, Iowa (AP) - A campaign spokesman says the wife of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul was hospitalized today (Saturday) with an irregular heartbeat. Carol Paul became ill on Saturday morning and was taken to an area hospital, says Jesse Benton, a Paul spokesman. A Republican congressman from Texas, Paul was delayed in arriving at the high profile Republican straw poll in Ames today (Saturday) in order to stay with his wife. Benton told The Associated Press that Mrs. Paul was recovering at hospital in Des Moines from a heart condition that causes her heart rate to get very low....

Republican presidential candidates transformed the campus of Iowa State University into a conservative carnival Saturday, competing for votes by offering free soda and barbecue and a promise of shade for the thousands who braved the 100-degree heat to attend this year's straw poll. The activists came by the busload, more than 30,000 in all, for the first voting of the 2008 presidential campaign. But for many, casting ballots was an afterthought as they made their way past huge stages with live bands, inflatable bouncy rooms for the kids and fair-style booths touting one conservative cause after another. The Iowa Right...