Nice thought, but…
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is pushing to end the state’s Republican straw poll, but the state party chairman says the event may still go on next year.
Branstad said Monday that the poll – traditionally held in Ames the summer before a contested presidential caucus – is a turnoff for many candidates and could diminish the power of the state’s caucuses.
…yeah, the rest of us kind of hate the Iowa caucuses, too. And the ethanol subsidies. And, yeah, I will admit it: the Ames Straw Poll. On the other hand: I’d probably hate all the essentially meaningless rituals that we’d see come out of whichever state replaced Iowa as first in the primaries. And on the gripping hand: we’re probably going to pick up Iowa in the 2016 Presidential election, so let me just shut up now.