Romney Hits Iowa on Eve of Straw Poll:
By Katherine M. Skiba, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Aug. 11–DES MOINES, Iowa — On the eve of a much-watched mock election he’s expected to win, Mitt Romney made the obligatory trip to worship all things Iowan.
He and his clan came to the State Fair.
He posed during a photo op, donning a denim apron and pretending to grill pork chops.
He gave speeches, proclaiming himself a Washington outsider with a record and the know-how to tackle problems.
He pressed the flesh.
He told his life story.
He touted his photogenic family.
And as the temperature inched past 90 and sweat dripped from his temples, the former Massachusetts governor poured iced tea for fair-goers with a manner so polite and enthusiastic he might have been a job applicant.
Come to think of it, the 60-year-old is applying for a job: president of the United States of America.
The fifth-ever Republican straw poll will take place today amid great hoopla at Iowa State University in Ames.
More than 25,000 people are expected to cast votes, with results to be announced at 7 p.m., the Republican Party of Iowa said.
Tommy G. Thompson, Wisconsin governor from 1987 to 2001 and, later, U.S. Health and Human Services chief, also is on the ballot. Now a back-of-the-pack candidate, Thompson is hoping the poll boosts his fortunes (and small campaign treasury), and if it doesn’t, he might abandon the race. Thompson also hit the fair Friday.
Romney’s aides turned down a Journal Sentinel request for a one-on-one interview, leaving his Iowa press secretary, Tim Albrecht, to detail what’s happening as the poll approaches. Campaign staffers are working "very hard." They’re not taking a single vote for granted. And they’re treating the mock election as, in Albrecht’s words, a "full-body workout" for the campaign organization for Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.
Stressing strength
Romney and his family (five sons, five daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren) have campaigned heavily in Iowa for months. All turned out for the fair, with the little ones "all out there eating ice cream and petting the baby pigs," said his wife, Ann.
A multimillionaire businessman and the savior of the Salt Lake City Olympics, Romney has amassed a sizable war chest that has let him hire numerous staffers, run television ads statewide — one spot is geared solely to increasing turnout to the straw poll — rent a fleet of buses to give free rides to the straw poll and purchase a slew of the $35 tickets that allow people to vote.
At the fair, there were freebies such as hand-held fans inscribed, "Mitt Romney, True Strength for America’s Future."
His outfit is canny enough to echo Romney’s keyword — strength — in many directions. While addressing a forum at the fair, Romney said he stands for a strong country, economy, military and family.
Sitting in the audience was former Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad, who led the state from 1983 to 1999, overlapping Thompson’s time as governor.
Branstad, now president of Des Moines University, said he is neutral in the race, though he’s advised several GOP hopefuls. But because his 23-year-old son, Marcus, is a field staff director for Romney in north-central Iowa, the former governor said he knows Romney’s operation is a well-structured, roll-up-your-sleeves group.
He’s expecting Romney to top the field today, but he has a soft spot for two other former governors in the field, Thompson and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.
At the University of Iowa, political scientist Peverill Squire said that in light of how much money and time Romney has spent in Iowa — he’s the only top-tier candidate to put so many resources into the straw poll — "for him it would be a disaster if he doesn’t win by a comfortable margin."
Both former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona are sitting out the poll, though their names will appear on the ballots.
The man to beat
The straw poll tends to draw political activists, and on the GOP side, many in Iowa are social conservatives. Squire said the group might dislike Romney’s flip-flop on abortion; he’s long been an abortion opponent but wasn’t earlier. Others say there are people who regard his Mormon faith as a question mark or worse.
But Squire said social conservatives might go with Romney nevertheless because the perception is that he could trump the Democratic nominee.
A highly unscientific poll at the fair underscored that Romney is the man to beat.
NBC affiliate WHO Television was handing out single kernels of corn and inviting people to "vote" for their favorite Republican or Democrat by putting the kernel in a jar marked with their favorite candidate’s name. By midday Friday, Romney was creaming his GOP competition with an estimated 641 kernels to Huckabee’s 226 and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson’s 205.
Tommy Thompson? Second to last with 64 kernels, besting only McCain.
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