Most media types don’t get the Ames Straw Poll in the least. They describe it as an election, as a test of candidate strength, as a predictor of how the Iowa Caucuses would turn out if they were held today, etc. Almost every detail you have heard about it on cable news is [...]

Congressman Ron Paul’s R-LOVE-ution is on the air with a 30-second TV spot that, according to the Register, will run in Sioux City, Des Moines, and Cedar Rapids. The ad, which is better than Tancredo’s but worse than everyone else’s, highlights Paul’s record on fiscal policy, emphasizing that he has never accepted his Congressional [...]

About a month ago, I heard Ron Paul’s campaign staff pledge that they would get 10,000 of their supporters to the Ames Straw Poll during their alternative event next to the ICA/ITR Republican Candidates Forum, from which Paul was excluded. Then it was revealed — on Paul’s own official Straw Poll site — that [...]

Chris Matthews and other MSNBC shows have featured Obama girl, Giuliani girl, and Hillary girl multiple times — both via their YouTube exploits and in live, in-studio appearances. Why isn’t this video getting any attention? Should she have worn hot pants?

Hat-tip: Common Iowan

Before leaving Iowa Independent to head to DC, writer Ben Weyl, who has been our Christian Right correspondent, wrote a final “think piece” on the social conservative movement in Iowa.  His coverage of Iowa social conservatives has, I think, been better and more comprehensive than anyone else’s for the past three months, and this culmination [...]

Republican online strategist Patrick Ruffini predicts that Ron Paul will win second place in the Ames Straw Poll next month. He should pay more attention to the RPI’s rules. Ruffini writes of Paul:
He leads the second tier in cash-on-hand. He was able to get 1,200 people out to the Hy-Vee (has any candidate [...]

According to Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa, who was on the Straw Poll call with Chuck Laudner, ED of the Iowa GOP, Fred Thompson will be on the Ames Straw Poll ballot next month. She doesn’t lead with it, but it is definitely the lede:
The Straw Poll Ballot: Sam Brownback, John Cox, Rudy [...]

Via Taegan Goddard, we get a look at the McCain “strategy memo” being leaked to McCain supporters to be used as talking points for how the Arizona Senator can come back to win the nomination. It’s nearly 10 pages long, but right on page 3 he lists bullet points describing his chances in Iowa:
Point [...]

This link probably won’t work for much longer (Drudge doesn’t know how to do permalinks for some reason), but the gist is that Iowans are complaining that Rudy is late. Here’s what he says:
Mayor Rudy Giuliani is developing a new theme on the campaign trail: He’s late to his events!
It’s a theme that’s [...]

Iowa Communications Director Tim Miller and Iowa “Coalitions Director” (actually an important position) Marlys Popma announced resignations from McCain’s Iowa campaign today.
Both are heavy hitters, but both also seem like the type to be loyal to a cause until they get the impression that the cause is no longer loyal to them. Is McCain [...]