The Iowa straw poll, one of the great institutions of American politics, is no more.
In a unanimous vote on Friday morning, the Republican party of Iowa cancelled the event, a colorful carnival long held in Ames, to which presidential hopefuls bused in supporters and plied them with food, drink and celebrity appearances, in hopes of gaining their support in a non-binding vote.
The straw poll had long been criticized as an unrepresentative event that set unfair expectations. In 2011, a poor result pushed the former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty out of the race while the winner, rightwing representative Michele Bachmann, went on to finish last in the Iowa caucuses.
This year, many Republican candidates were loth to participate in an event at which candidates traditionally bought up $30 tickets for supporters. Top-tier candidates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee said they would not take part. In the past, the straw poll was used as a key test of organizational strength in Iowa and served to cull the field. Yet it drew criticism from many Iowa Republicans, including six-term governor Terry Branstad.
The Republican Party of Iowa had spent much of this year trying to overcome objections from those who opposed the event. The poll was moved from Ames to Boone and controversial features such as an auction in which candidates competed for plots of land to set up tents were cut. But that wasn’t enough.
In a statement, the state party chair, Jeff Kaufmann, said: “Many candidates are still concerned about participating in an event that carries significant media-driven expectations well ahead of our First in the Nation Caucuses.”
He added that while state Republicans “still deeply believe that the straw poll offers a fantastic opportunity for candidates, we need to focus on strengthening our ‘First in the Nation’ status and putting a Republican back in the White House”.
The decision is likely to make things easier for one candidate in particular. The Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, has long led in polls in Iowa, but had shied away from saying if his campaign would participate in the straw poll. After all, a win would merely have confirmed expectations at a cost of millions of dollars, while a loss or a refusal to participate would have been a sign of weakness.
Now Walker has dodged that bullet and the Republican Party of Iowa has lost one of its biggest fundraisers – as well as one of the most unusual political events in the United States.
