2011 Ames Straw Poll and Debate

Today is the Ames Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa, and the crème de la crème will be there. We had a small glimpse of it at the debate held Thursday and I thought that Newt Gingrich won it, with Herman Cain coming in second. My reasoning as to why Newt is based on how he set the tone of the questions and comments flowing his way when he went after Chris Wallace when he told Wallace to not ask “Gotcha!” questions and then how he blasted the SuperCommittee that had been formed to try to fix the economy. Herman Cain came in second in my mind even though the moderators had largely ignored him as far as the questions go. however, he delivered one of the best comments when speaking about immigration when he said that America's got to learn to take a joke when asked about his comments in regards to protecting the border with a 20-foot long fence. Michele Bachmann came in third with her two-pronged sparring with Tim Pawlenty (her fellow Minnesotan) and then to Byron York in regards  to a remark Bachmann made in a prior interview about being submissive. Rick Santorum came in 4th in my mind on many statements made but more importantly in his mini-battle with Ron Paul on gay marriage and also on Iran. I thought Ron Paul stumbled on both and Rick Santorum trounced him. Speaking of Ron Paul I think he came in 8th in the debate, and Herman Cain, who was positioned between Paul and Santorum on the staged, shone there when he just stood back and just let them have at it.

 

Here is my official Debate finishing order:

 

1. Newt Gingrich

2. Herman Cain

3. Michele Bachmann

4. Rick Santorum

5. Mitt Romney

6. Jon Huntsman

7. Tim Pawlenty

8. Ron Paul

 

 

And now here are my prediction of the Ames Straw Poll results:

1. Michele Bachmann

2. Herman Cain

3. Mitt Romney

4. Newt Gingrich

5. Rick Santorum

6. Ron Paul

7. Tim Pawlenty

8. Thaddeus McCotter

9. Jon Huntsman

 

I will be blogging during the speeches of the Straw Poll as well as give my own reaction to the final results of the Straw Poll ballot. If you want to watch it, you can go to http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/ or http://www.ustream.tv/iowastrawpoll and watch it live. The program begins at 1 PM Eastern, 12 PM Central, so do not miss it!