The date’s been set for an event which has served as a proving ground for GOP presidential candidates.
The Republican Party of Iowa’s next “Straw Poll” will be held on Saturday, August 11, 2007 in Ames, on the Iowa State University campus.
Iowa Republican Party “Straw Polls” are traditionally held in August the year before a presidential election. The intense media attention on the event has led to the exit of some candidates and served as an early indicator of other’s popularity.
For example, after televangelist Pat Robertson’s surprise victory in the 1987 Straw Poll, he went on to finish in second place in the Iowa Caucuses a few months later — in front of third-place finisher George Bush, who was vice president at the time. In 1999, Lamar Alexander, Elizabeth Dole and Dan Quayle quickly dropped out of that presidential race after finishing poorly in the Straw Poll.