The Ames straw poll over a week ago got a lot of press attention, but it appears to have had zero impact on the Republican presidential nomination battle.
Mitt Romney won the straw poll by a big margin, and his staff promptly claimed it would give him a national "bounce" in the polls against Giuliani. Coming in second was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who had hoped to be elevated into the "first tier" of competitors. But a new poll released yesterday by the respected Rasmussen polling firm showed little for either candidate to cheer about.
According to Rasmussen, here's how the GOP race breaks down one week after the Ames straw poll: Rudy Giuliani 25%, Fred Thompson 21%, Mitt Romney 14%, John McCain 12%, and Mike Huckabee 4%. Four other candidates - Sam Brownback, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo - split up 4% of the vote. Nineteen percent of Republican voters remain undecided. Those numbers are almost identical to the standings before Ames.
By the way, it is worth mentioning that those candidates who say they are pro-life have a total of 55% of the vote to pro-choice Giuliani's 25%, but he still wins the nomination as long as so many self- described social conservatives are in the race. And, to top it off, there are now reports that Alan Keyes may soon jump in too.
(Source: Gary Bauer, End-of-Day, Aug. 21, 2007)
