The Iowa Republican Party is hoping that lower costs, easier logistics and free food will keep its straw poll afloat as a must-stop for GOP contenders traveling the road to the White House.
The Iowa caucuses serve as the first presidential nominating contest on the primary calendar, and the state GOP since 1979 has sponsored a straw poll every summer of the off year before the election that over time proved it could elevate underdogs and break frontrunners. But commitment to the straw poll, intended as a fundraiser for the state party, has waned recently as some leading candidates decided it wasn’t worth the risk, or expense, to participate. The straw poll also failed to help its 2011 winner, whose candidacy imploded shortly afterward.
“We’ve been listening to voices here in Iowa and across the country, and we agree with much of what we’ve heard. Iowa Republicans understand dramatic changes are necessary to ensure our straw poll is affordable and fair for all presidential candidates,” Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said, in an op-ed published in Politico Magazine.
A spokesman for the Iowa Republican Party on Thursday told the Washington Examiner that the rules for the 2015 straw poll, scheduled for Aug. 8, have yet to be published. But he confirmed that most of the changes to the contest involve venue, operations and concessions in an effort to reduce the investment to campaigns that could be prohibitive in what is shaping up to be a crowded and competitive presidential primary.
The biggest change is the move from Ames, on the campus of Iowa State University, to nearby Boone, about 40 minutes north of Des Moines, home of the Central Iowa Expo.
Unlike Ames, the expo comes ready to go with convenient parking and other infrastructure, such as being fully wired for electricity. This should reduce what campaigns have invested in the past for items like booth set up and shuttle transportation to and from the parking area. The state party also has eliminated the auction for booth space, which ran some campaigns up to $35,000, and will instead hold a random drawing for space.
Additionally, the state GOP will for the first time subsidize snacks for the thousands of Iowa Republican activists who have traditionally flocked to the straw poll to interact with the candidates and hear them give speeches. Over the years, the campaigns would compete for the attention of activists by paying for increasingly elaborate, and expensive catered meals consisting of traditional Midwestern fair cuisine.
“This not only added to the cost of candidate participation, but cheapened the straw poll as campaigns tried to win votes with local delicacies, not good ideas. We’re electing a president — not a Top Chef,” Kaufmann said. “The good news for you Iowa foodies is that the Iowa GOP will be hosting traditional Iowa State Fair-style vendors and local civic organizations. Come for the candidates, but stay for classic Iowa faire like pork chops on a stick, corn dogs and Dutch letters.”
Whether these changes impact the politics of participating in the straw poll is another matter.
The Examiner reached out to the campaigns or political operations of five of GOP’s 2016 contenders to ask if going to Boone is more attractive than going to Ames. One campaign said it was likely to participate, another said it was too early to tell, and three had yet to respond to Examiner at press time.
“For some candidates it wouldn’t make sense to participate even if the Iowa GOP was paying their campaign,” said a Republican operative who advised a presidential candidate in 2012. “The risk/reward calculation is so unfavorable that they’re better off steering clear and allowing a few of their peers to be killed off by underperformance in a contest that doesn’t put the winner one step closer to winning the nomination. Running the risk of losing might be ok if winning actually meant something.”
The most recent straw poll cautionary tale is Tim Pawlenty. The former Minnesota governor put all his eggs in the Iowa basket in the GOP’s 2012 nominating contest. He dropped his presidential bid one day after finishing third in the 2011 straw poll with 13.6 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, the winner of the poll often has no bearing on the winner of the caucuses, let alone the winner of the nomination.
Then-Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota won the last straw poll with 28.6 percent. That turned out to be her high point in the race. Former Sen. Rick Santorum won the caucuses and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the nomination.
In 2007, Romney won the straw poll with 31.6 percent, but former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the causes and Sen. John McCain of Arizona won the nomination. Back in 1979, the first year of the straw poll, there were actually two of them, one in May and a second in October. George H.W. Bush won both of them, and followed it up with victory in the caucuses.
But he ultimately lost out on the 1980 nomination to a former California governor by the name of Ronald Reagan, who finished, second and third, respectively, in the two 1979 straw polls.
