Tommy Thompson Drops Out After Ames Straw Poll

Tommy Thompson has decided to drop out after a poor showing in the Ames Straw Poll this past Saturday. Thompson was a former governor of Wisconsin and served in President Bush’s first term as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He has maintained poll numbers in the single digits and had hoped the Straw Poll would push him into the top tier. Thompson came in sixth in the poll with only 7.3% of the vote. Late Sunday Thompson’s campaign announced he would be dropping out of the race for the President. “I want to thank the people of Iowa who were welcoming and supportive as well as my volunteers and contributors from around the country,” Thompson said in a statement released by his presidential campaign. “I have no regrets about running. I felt my record as Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health and Human Services gave me the experience I needed to serve as President, but I respect the decision of the voters.” Mitt Romney invested a huge effort into the poll and it payed off because he won with 31.6%. Mike Huckabee came in second with 18.1%, and in third was Sam Brownback with 15.3%. There are rumors that Brownback may drop out soon too, and go back to his job in the Senate. Like Thomposn, Brownback invested a lot of effort and money in this poll and he feels a third place finish was not that great. Rounding out the top five was Tom Tancredo in fourth with 13.7% and Ron Paul in fifth with 9.1% On the bottom of the poll was front runner Rudy Giuliani and John McCain who both refused to participate in the poll. The poll has become important in the past elections because the eventual Republican candidate usually comes from there a winner. On the bottom was Duncan Hunter who came in behind the two that didn’t even participate. You would think he would get a clue, but instead he has decided to keep on going. “This is just a start for us, because this is the first real week we have done in Iowa,” Hunter said in an interview. “We look at this as a good start.” He did say this before the results were given though. A close look at the poll and it looks like the real winner is Huckabee with his second place finish. Romney’s big win is diminished somewhat because of the absence of the frontrunners. When you apply a cost-benefit analysis to the poll it gives you a different picture. Romney spent about $400 for each vote since it is estimated he spent about 2 million dollars to win the poll. Huckabee spent only $150,000 on the poll and that comes to about $58 a vote. So the candidate that spent nothing but time and effort came out the real winner, while the candidate that spent a bunch of money came out the winner only on paper. I think this poll will give Huckabee the boost he needed to go on.
Alan Cosgrove