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Sunday, August 12, 2007 - 1:00pm Huckabee a Solid Second in Iowa Straw Poll Mitt Romney technically won the Iowa Straw poll yesterday, but the real winner was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Romney paid millions to garner 31% of the vote, but it was Huckabee who received 18%, an astonishing number considering his shoestring budget. His second place finish now vaults him up to the upper echelon of Republican candidates.
John McCain and Rudy Giuliani didn't even break the top seven, choosing to ignore the poll altogether. The increasingly irrelevant and pathetic McCain finished in 10th place with a measly 1% of the vote. Giuliani could only muster up 1.3% for eighth place. Perhaps the Iowa voters have already figured out that these two guys are phonies. Heck, even Rudy's kids don't like him.
Tommy Thomson had said that he will drop out of the race if he did not reach second place. He finished sixth. Expect him to drop out shortly. Others like Duncan Hunter, John Cox, and John McCain won't be far behind.
The Iowa poll shows us that a lower tier candidate like Mike Huckabee can still contend with the money machine candidates like Mitt Romney. Even though the turnout was low, Huckabee may receive a much needed boost in the national polls as well as in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Still, if he does not get a cash infusion into his campaign in the next few months, he will be done as well.
I hope candidates like Huckabee are able to contend with the big boys, but it remains to be seen if any of them can in the long run. Still, with five months to go before the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, it is anyone's game. I'll be rooting for the underdogs.
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