The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Tim Pawlenty Quits!

NEWTON, Iowa I was sitting here at breakfast with Ladd Ehlinger just an hour ago when he said, “Pawlenty’s quitting!” Tim Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he is ending his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination after a disappointing third-place finish at the Iowa straw poll. Mr. Pawlenty thanked his […]

LIVE! AMES STRAW POLL COVERAGE: Fear and Loathing at Hilton Coliseum UPDATE: BACHMANN WINS!

UPDATE 6:41 p.m. ET: AMES, Iowa – Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann has won the Iowa Republican Straw Poll of 2012 presidential candidates. UPDATE 6:47 p.m. ET: Bachmann 4,823 (28.5%) Paul 4,671 (27.6%) Pawlenty 2,293 Santorum 1,657 Cain 1,456 Perry 718 (write-in) Romney 567 Quick analysis — obviously, Pawlenty’s toast. He spent more than a million […]

Herman Cain Speaks at Iowa State Fair

DES MOINES, Iowa Here are the photos of Herman Cain’s soap box speech this morning: I counted no fewer than eight TV cameras recording the speech. I’ve got videos, but this McDonald’s where I’m working has crappy bandwidth on the WiFi, so the videos will have to wait for later.

Dave Weigel on the Undecided Iowans

There is a lot of genuine ambiguity among Republicans here: Romney leaves Pella and makes his way an hour up the road to Des Moines. He’s the honored guest at a Polk County Republican fundraiser at the home of Nick Van Patten . . . Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, and other candidates have already been […]

He Only Steals From the Best

NEWTON, Iowa When I showed up at the state capitol Tuesday for the Tim Pawlenty event, T-Paw had already split the scene and I found myself talking to Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle, who explained that Pawlenty had avoided reporters’ questions while making his early exit. Joe and I started talking about the […]

Iowa Notebook: Romney Coming to Town; Pawlenty and the ‘Plausible Chance’ Trick

DES MOINES, Iowa Mitt Romney will be the featured guest at a “Road to the White House Republican House Party” in Des Moines this evening. That starts at 5 p.m. and then at 7 p.m. Tim Pawlenty has a rally in Ames. It’s a 45-minute drive from Des Moines to Ames, so as long as […]

Meanwhile, on the Cain Campaign …

DES MOINES, Iowa Because of my late return from Monday’s event in Council Bluffs — I didn’t get back here until nearly 3 a.m. Tuesday morning — I decided to skip the road trip today, and only made one brief outing to the state capitol where I saw the Rick Perry supporters. So I missed the […]

Young Minions of the Sith Lord of Texas UPDATE: Perry Coming to Iowa Sunday

DES MOINES, Iowa For the past several days I’ve been referring to the prospective Rick Perry 2012 candidacy as the “Phantom Menace” looming over the Ames Straw Poll. Today I unexpectedly encountered the menace in the form of perky Texas coeds in burnt orange “Americans for Rick Perry” T-shirts: While I’m usually very much pro-coed — especially […]

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