64 Responses to “LIVE! AMES STRAW POLL COVERAGE: Fear and Loathing at Hilton Coliseum UPDATE: BACHMANN WINS!”

1. Zilla of the Resistance
   August 13th, 2011 @ 6:36 pm

   I told all the fans of the A-C page to come here for the best Ames coverage, because you’re the only one who covers all the candidates. Also, been rattling the jar for you at my place while explaining to everyone why you are so awesome:
   Do You Want America’s Future Decided by the MSM or by The People?

2. LIVE! AMES STRAW POLL COVERAGE: Fear and Loathing at Hilton Coliseum « That Mr. G Guy's Blog
   August 13th, 2011 @ 2:51 pm

   […] LIVE! AMES STRAW POLL COVERAGE: Fear and Loathing at Hilton Coliseum. […]

3. Stacy McCain Gets Polled!… « The Camp Of The Saints
   August 13th, 2011 @ 3:37 pm

   […] is live blogging the Ames Iowa Straw Poll over at his […]

4. Gsg1970
   August 13th, 2011 @ 7:39 pm

   I like all the not so subtle digs against Ron Paul. How can anyone like him, he does not have great oratory like Obama. Oh, and he is old so how come young people like him?

   Well maybe it’s the message and not the messenger. Maybe someone actually telling us why we have a problem and not just cheerleading the problem is what young Conservatives like and appreciate.

   Maybe someone that says that $750 million in defense is too much. 170 military bases flub world wide creates hatred and not admiration. And maybe, just maybe liberty and Constitutional government should just be on bumper stickers, but should be a part of Republican principles again.

   Just saying.

5. Anonymous
   August 13th, 2011 @ 8:16 pm

   I haven’t followed this. Iowa afterall has been missin’ da mark in recent election cycles.  But, I think it’ll go like this:  Romney, Bachmann, Paul, T-Paw, ……  and way behind ………

6. Beto Ochoa
   August 13th, 2011 @ 8:39 pm

   I’m not a Paulista and people who know me around the intertoobs are aware I am backing Bachmann but practically all the young people I converse with, and that’s dozens of different kids every week, are liking Ron Paul.
   I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he wins this today.

7. The Wondering Jew
   August 13th, 2011 @ 8:56 pm

   And re “Cranky Old Coots” (a rare slip by Stacy from his generally studied politeness toward we Paulistas), there’s no question that Paul doesn’t have an inspiring speaking voice.  And there are plenty of policy areas that I disagree with him on.  But what attracts people (including me) to Paul is that he is the ultimate Anti-politician.  Young people, especially, gravitate toward his authenticity.  He is 0% style, 100% substance, and on the economy, federalism, etc. he’s been positively prophetic, relaying the same message now that the rest of the GOP field is just now catching up with. In addition to his economic chops, he is very religious and socially conservative, he’s been a pro-life warrior with with a 50+ year marriage and a large family, but he never comes across as holier than thou.

   There are plenty of other GOP candidates out there I feel positively about this cycle (Cain, Bachmann, Pawlenty, etc. all have their strong points) but Paul to me, is, despite his legitimate and oft-remarked-upon shortcomings, the best in the field.

8. Patrick
   August 13th, 2011 @ 9:27 pm

   The WiFi connectivity issues got so frustrating a few minutes ago that I
   threw my fedora on the floor, shouted a string of frightful epithets
   and went outside to smoke a couple of cigarettes to calm down. When I
   returned, the WiFi connection had slightly improved, so apparently the
   cussing worked.

   Calm down old man, your going to pop a vein. 😉

9. Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll | The Lonely Conservative
   August 13th, 2011 @ 6:55 pm

   […] challengers. (Read more)Expect to see Michele Bachmann on all of the Sunday morning news shows.The Other McCain has more. google_ad_client = "pub-1395656889568144"; /* 300×250, created 8/11/08 */ google_ad_slot […]

10. Bachmann Wins Ames Straw Poll - The NeoSexist
    August 13th, 2011 @ 6:57 pm

    […] Wins Ames Straw Poll Aug.13, 2011 in General The Other McCain has the details: UPDATE 6:41 p.m. ET: AMES, Iowa – Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann has won the […]

11. Robbyahm
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:02 pm

    Wow!!! Bachmann actually stopped the ronPaulies from screwing another poll??!? Ladies and Gentlemen, our First female president, with “America’s Godfather” for VP.

12. Beto Ochoa
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:09 pm

    Didn’t Bachmann give away 6000 tickets and only has 4823 show up?
    Wins by 151?
    Raises some questions about her organization.

13. Beto Ochoa
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:17 pm

    You can’t screw a poll that counts individual heads.
    You can screw an online poll that lets you vote multiple times.
    Like the ones over at DU and Daily KOS

14. Michele Bachmann Iowa Straw Poll Winner - The POH Diaries
    August 13th, 2011 @ 7:22 pm

    […] with McCain in his assessment of Pawlenty. It’s time for T-Paw to hang it up. Will he hang around until the caucuses take place? […]

15. richard mcenroe
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:24 pm

    RonPaul’s been in Congress since the Reconstruction, yet he’s the ultimate antipolitician to young people? Time to raise the voting age again…

16. AngelaTC
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:25 pm

    Right?   No tip jar for Mr McCain for quite some time, me thinks.  

17. Anonymous
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:27 pm

    Ron “Age of Sail” Paul’s foreign policy lost relevance about 1930.

18. AngelaTC
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:27 pm

    I’m actually thrilled that both Bachmann and Paul did as well as they did. I think it indicates that the TEA Party is very much alive and kicking.   

19. Bert Spence
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:28 pm

    Seriously? You’re talking about Mitt Romney and Rick Perry finishing six and seventh?  Bachman and Paul finished in a statistical dead heat.  Paul is an avowed Austrian Economics disciple.  Bachman said her summer reading was Ludwig Von Mises’ “Human Action.”  The two most libertarian Republicans in the pack just tied for first with, between them, four times the votes of the nearest challenger (Pawlenty).  That is the story.  Mitt Romney is not the story.  Mitt Romney is not the “front-runner” except among people who want to see a repeat of the McCain disaster.  The likely front-runner, nationally, about two weeks from now will be Rick Perry.  Bachman is building quite a case for VP.  Paul is moving the debate ever more toward Austrian, free-market, no-central-bank, no-ability-of-government-to-inflate-the-currency, economics and libertarian governance.  But by all means lets talk about Mitt Romney, because the same media honchos that pushed McCain over the top in 2008 as the quadrennial sacrifice to the Messiah say Romney is the front-runner, so we should too.

    Unbelievable.

20. Zilla of the Resistance
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:33 pm

    Interesting point. 

21. Zilla of the Resistance
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:37 pm

    Excellent results! And Stacy, as always, you have done a stellar job out there in corn country, thanks for all your hard work! 
    I am pleased with Rick Santorum’s respectable finish, his campaign is on the ascendancy!
    I offer up a big fat HEH! over Mittens’ BIG FAT LOSS. Bwahahahahaha!!!
    MY candidate of choice got triple the votes Romney did!
    Romney loses to Perry who wasn’t on the ballot and wasn’t even running before today. LOLz!
    No surprise on Ron Paul’s numbers, he’s really good at busing his fans in pretty much everywhere. But I can never take seriously someone who doesn’t recognize that Iran is a threat to the United States and denies that they are pursuing nukes. He must not have been listening to the Iranians OWN WORDS bragging about their nuke program and their incessant “death to America” stuff.

22. Anonymous
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:39 pm

    Try about 1836; that’s when letters of marque and reprisal were outlawed internationally.

23. Anonymous
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:41 pm

    Yeah, you can.  Go the the candidate’s booth.  Get one of the free tickets they’re giving out.  Then go vote for another candidate.  Denies a ticket to a potential voter for the first candidate and maximizes the number of tickets for your trained monkey.

24. The Wondering Jew
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:41 pm

    Ron Paul says what he means and lets the chips fall where they may.  he is not afraid to take the heat from the Republican establishment.  And of course, he had a substantial career as a physician before he ever touched on politics.  With Paul it is always about the message– not about him. That is why he’s the ultimate anti-politician. 

25. Beto Ochoa
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:47 pm

    Romney is only the front runner amongst the enemy camp

26. The Wondering Jew
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:47 pm

    Bert– I agree with you 100%- the real story here was the dominance of the conservative-libertarian Tea Party Austrian School Republicans over the establishment hacks.

27. Beto Ochoa
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:50 pm

    Romney’s a slick con man. Slicker than Obama as a matter of fact.
    America sees through all that smooth talk now.

28. The Wondering Jew
    August 13th, 2011 @ 11:56 pm

    Zilla, the question isn’t what some blowhard in Iran says, it’s what they can credibly do to threaten us.  In my judgment, the potential threat that they imply is not large enough to justify the literally trillions of dollars we have thrown down a sinkhole trying to bring democracy to the Middle East.  I recognize that this is a minority view among conservatives, but my only insistence is that it is not the “litmus test” for whether one is, in fact a conservative.

     I went through this war in the 2008 campaign, where a bunch of neocon liberals who couldn’t in a million years touch Paul with respect to either fiscal or social conservativism wanted to read him out of the Republican Party because he lacked their enthusiasm for bombing Iran and Iraq, the only way in which they were “conservative” at all.  Many of my favorite Republicans (e.g. Jim DeMint) have definitely had more aggressive views on the U.S. policy in the Middle East, but they are happy to work with Paul on their many points of strong agreement and not marginalize him.  That’s the example I would like the party to set.

29. Anonymous
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:06 am

    Yes, and too often what Ron Paul has to say is deranged, ahistorical monkey talk, like the letters of marque nonsense or his ignorant and ill-informed comments on Iran in the debate.

    Paul suffers from what seems to be a widespread malady among libertarians; he’ll be tooling along making interesting and sensible observations on a topic like the Fed and suddenly something will come flying out of his mouth that is so motherfrackingly deranged you  not diagree with it but you wind up questioning your other beliefs you thought he was making sense on.

30. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:06 am

    That’s right Zilla, keep a stiff upper lip. When they announced the results, I noticed they were playing “Don’t Stop Believing” in the background. Rumor has it that at that exact moment, in some little out of the way diner on the outskirt of Des Moines, Rick and his family had just sat to a big bowl of onion rings when Rick’s political future suddenly went black.

31. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:14 am

    Iran is the biggest problem in the region. They are the most important funding source of Hamas, Hezbollah, and I think are also aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. Their reach extends far beyond Iraq. They are the major reason we need to maintain a military presence in the Persian Gulf. And this is coming from a person who wants to pull our troops out of Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Paul is just dead wrong on the issue of Iran. He’s even wrong about the nuclear issue. Nobody suggested they had the capacity to attack the US mainland with a nuke in the form of a missile. But they could still do immeasurable damage, and in fact have been for some time. As for this insanity about 1953, that’s so off the wall its almost not worthy of comment, were it not for the fact that so many people are taken in by that. The coup we supported then, when we installed the Shah, was against a regime that was socialist and aligned with the Soviets, and which posed a danger not only to the region, but to the energy infrastructure of Iran itself, and to our own growing energy needs. In the context of the Cold War, taking that ass clown out was the right thing to do.

32. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:18 am

    One thing everybody should know about Ron Paul. He is not the father of the Tea Party. He’s not the grandfather of the Tea Party. He’s not even the Godfather of the Tea Party. He’s the god damn crazy uncle of the Tea Party and somebody needs to lock him back up in the attic. He’s not going to win the nomination. I know it and so does everybody else. Stop the madness Ron.

33. Bachmann wins straw poll « Don Surber
    August 13th, 2011 @ 8:29 pm

    […] Robert Stacy McCain interviewed Frank Luntz, who was flabbergasted by Rick Perry’s […]

34. The Wondering Jew
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:33 am

    Name calling is not an argument.

    But in any case, Re: Letters of Marque “International Law” does not trump the Constitution– or at least it shouldn’t for anyone who calls himself a conservative.  And yes, I’m aware of the U.S. legislative history here.  We have an 80 year legislative history of New Deal madness– doesn’t make the New Deal any less unconstitutional.  But my quibble isn’t with people who don’t like Paul’s views on Iran– I don’t like some on Ron Paul’s views on Iran.  My beef is with people who seem so obsessed with what is going on in Iran that they attack Paul viciously while they gave a free ride to all of the  pseudo-conservative BS that went on for eight years during the Bush Administration.  It makes me wonder where their conservative priorities lie.  Bush-Cheney nearly destroyed conservatism.  Ron Paul helped bring it back from the brink as a leading instigator of the Tea Party movement.  If you think that someone else is better to be the GOP Standard-bearer in 2012, that’s fine– but respectful disagreement would seem to be far more appropriate than vitriol.  Save the anger for Stacy’s idiot cousin John and the rest of the GOP establishment.

35. Zilla of the Resistance
    August 14th, 2011 @ 12:35 am

    Smartass.

36. Adjoran
    August 14th, 2011 @ 1:24 am

    Ron Paul has been one of the biggest ear-markers and pork barrel spenders in the Congress since he’s been there.  His modus operandi is to get his pork and earmarks into the Omnibus appropriations bill in committee and then, when the final version is assured of passage, to vote against it and make a speech against spending.

    This is because his supporters are too stupid or too stoned to check the record.

    Had Ron Paul’s foreign policy been in place after WWII, we would be living in Soviet America today.

    So yeah, great guy.

37. Adjoran
    August 14th, 2011 @ 1:35 am

    Romney decided not to waste his money this cycle.  Wise decision. 

    There is actually a rather negative correlation between winning the Ames Straw Poll and winning the nomination or the general election.  It only gives slightly better than even chances at winning the Iowa Caucuses.

    It’s only purpose – the reason it was formed and the Iowa GOP makes no bones about it – is to raise money for the state party.

    Congratulations to Bachmann.  It also gives Obama the best news he’s had in a while.

38. The Wondering Jew
    August 14th, 2011 @ 2:17 am

    Ron Paul has always been completely above-board about earmarking.  His view is that because earmarking does not increase overall spending but only allows elected representatives, rather than bureaucrats to choose spending priorities, that it is good practice.  You may or may not agree (I tend to not agree, though Paul’s earmarks are for basic projects back home, not corrupt deals for political supporters.), but in the context of his overall spending/taxation record, it’s less than an asterisk.  Ron Paul isn’t getting re-elected because he’s so great at bringing big pork projects to Brazoria.

    Re: The Soviet Union, Ron Paul was actually in Congress for many years  during the Soviet Era– He was one of four sitting Republican Congressmen to support Ronald Reagan in 1976.  While he was never a super-hawk, he recognized the danger in a conflict with an expansionist great power who controlled much of historical Europe and wanted to impose a totalitarian economic system on us.  Neither he, nor I, see similar danger in the rantings of some tin-pot dictator in a backwards mullahocracy somewhere in the World’s armpit.

    But again, my goal is to see Paul treated with the basic civility he deserves, not to solve every foreign policy disagreement within the GOP.

39. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 2:24 am

    So I’m getting out of her and heading back to the hotel.

    Reckon if I start a tip jar drive of my own now I’ll be able to make it to the next straw poll. In four years time I should have enough to pay for a room for two.

40. The Wondering Jew
    August 14th, 2011 @ 2:35 am

    Um, actually as one of the people who organized Paul’s main Boston Tea Party Day rally (one of hundreds that took place that day) during the 2008 campaign, during which Paul set a one-day fundraising record for actual dollars (not pledges) raised, I’d beg to differ.  That rally was keynoted by a then-unknown Rand Paul (now founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the Senate). So Paul is certainly one the the primary fathers of the Tea Party movement.

    I agree with you that he won’t be the nominee, but he’ll move the debate on the size and scope of government in the way that I like. Given that all of the people who were castigating him in 2008 (again I know from personal experience) have now stolen 70% of his platform, I can only hope that Ron Paul “fails” in 2012 just like he did in 2008. 

41. Michele Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll. So, What Does it Mean? | marfdrat
    August 13th, 2011 @ 10:57 pm

    […] on-the-site reportage from Stacy McCain, and some analysis from Human Events . Ace has some thoughts on the Iowa Straw Poll process, […]

42. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:14 am

    Yeah, they “stole” seventy percent of his platform, and thankfully left out the crazy as a shithouse rat other thirty percent. How much of this record fundraising dollars in 2008 came from the 9/11 Truther movement? How much of it was courtesy of Stormfront?

43. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:19 am

    Ah come on now. That Newsweek cover pic might be an omen. You’ve seen what the presidency does to people. That might well be how she looks in four years. It takes a titanium spine to hold up that well through four years of living hell.

44. ThePaganTemple
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:21 am

    To be fair though, I’ll give you this, Paul as President would have its advantages. For example it would be fun watching him try to sell Alex Jones as his Attorney General.

45. The Wondering Jew
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:50 am

    Here’s what Michele Bachmann (a regular attendee at Ron Paul’s weekly
    lunches) had to say about Paul when she invited him to Minnesota for a
    joint Rally in 2009)

    http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2009/09/has_ron_paul_converted_michele.php

    So given that the majority of the votes in the straw poll just went to
    Ron Paul and someone who thinks enough of Ron Paul to specially invite
    him to her state for rallies, and attend his weekly luncheons, why all
    the Anti-Paul hysteria?

     But to go back to the 70% vs. 30%– the problem is that the 70% was
    stolen.  And for the most part the GOP establishment hasn’t manned up
    and acknowledged that Paul was right and they were wrong, and all of the
    stuff they are saying about that 70% of issues now was what Paul (and
    not they) had been saying all along.  If they stepped up and owned their
    previous failure on the 70%, They’d have a lot more credibility with me on the other 30% some of which I don’t like any better than they (or obviously you) do.

46. Anonymous
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:52 am

    For the record, I hit “like” by mistake; nothing personal.

47. Anonymous
    August 14th, 2011 @ 3:55 am

    International Law doesn’t have to trump the Constitution; we signed the treaty.  It’s American law Ron Paul is unaware of.

48. Charles
    August 14th, 2011 @ 4:43 am

    Ron Paul is the Sam Adams of the Tea Party. So you can call him the crazy Uncle Sam of the Tea Party if you like.

49. Jorge Emilio Emrys Landivar
    August 14th, 2011 @ 8:37 am

    “Just heard Ron Paul’s speech. It’s amazing, really, that this cranky old coot could inspire such a fanatical following among youth. He is a lousy speaker. His voice is not pleasant to hear, especially when boomed over the P.A. system in a basketball arena.”

    Thats just it.  Unlike every other politician in the race, it isn’t who he is but rather what he says that makes people fans. He’s said as much himself.  

50. Jorge Emilio Emrys Landivar
    August 14th, 2011 @ 8:39 am

    You do realize that the US never agreed to that treaty, and therefor isn’t bound by it.  Its not international law for us, its only international law for those countries who have agreed to it.

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