THE ELEPHANT'S DILEMMA
BACHMANN WINS AMES STRAW POLL
August 13th, 2011
August 13th, 2011
Ames, Iowa- Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was declared the winner of the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday, giving a large boost to the Tea Party darling of the GOP. While delivering a victory speech to her supporters, Bachmann said that the victory would help ensure that President Obama will only serve one term, and that the American people will “take their country back”. Coming in second to Bachmann is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who usually does well in straw polls. In third place is former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who lost by over 2000 votes to both Bachmann and Paul. Governor Pawlenty vowed to continue with his campaign, citing improving poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire. Pawlenty remains the frontrunner for the nomination, although former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman’s entrance into the race has seen him lose some of his earlier support in the northeastern states. Bachmann’s win coincides with the entrance of a new contender into the Republican presidential race. Texas Governor Rick Perry, after months of media speculation that he would do so, finally declared his candidacy for his party’s nomination at a rally in South Carolina. In his speech, he promised to help the American people take back the White House and restore honor to the United States.
AMES STRAW POLL 2011
GALLUP POLLING: 2012 PRESIDENTIAL MATCHUPS
August 15th, 2011
August 15th, 2011
Mitt Romney* v. Barack Obama- 44 – 44%
Mike Huckabee* v. Barack Obama- 46 – 45%
Sarah Palin* v. Barack Obama- 35 – 45%
Tim Pawlenty v. Barack Obama- 39 – 47%
Jon Huntsman v. Barack Obama- 40 – 46%
Newt Gingrich v. Barack Obama- 34 – 52%
Michele Bachmann v. Barack Obama- 36 – 46%
Herman Cain v. Barack Obama- 38 – 45%
Rick Perry v. Barack Obama- 42 – 44%
Rick Santorum v. Barack Obama- 31 – 56%
Donald Trump* v. Barack Obama- 34 – 48%
*Not a declared candidate
PERRY BECOMES OVERNIGHT FRONTRUNNER IN GOP RACE! TEA PARTY ADORES TEXAS GOVERNOR!
August 22nd, 2011
August 22nd, 2011
Davenport, Iowa- What is it about Rick Perry that makes him so appealing? Is it his populist message of smaller government and lower taxes? Is it his folksy charm? Is it his good looks? Or is it just that sweet Texas accent? Whatever it is that makes Rick Perry so great, the Tea Party loves it, and so do the rest of the voters. Since Governor Perry’s entrance into the race on the 13th (which is coincidentally the day that Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll), we have seen a sort of revolution in the GOP primary. Conservatives that had originally been supporting Tim Pawlenty, combined with the Tea Party crowd that had thrown their support behind various other candidates, have come together and appear to be uniting behind Rick Perry as their party’s nominee. Perry recently dethroned Pawlenty in Iowa, and is making gains in New Hampshire (although he still trails behind Jon Huntsman, who has been steadily rising in the more moderate northeastern state). Along with the groundswell of support from voters, the Perry campaign is reported to have received at least two million dollars in private donations. With a simple speech in South Carolina and a last-minute campaign, Rick Perry may have just snatched up the nomination. When questioned on why they support the Governor, newly-minted Perry supporters cited a relatively uninteresting field of candidates to choose from, and are hoping for a candidate that both holds their ideas and their values, and can energize the party to go out and vote. However, there is one catch to all this. When asked if their support for their candidate was definite, only twenty-two percent of voters say that the candidate they support now is the candidate they will vote for when the primary begins. The voters are still open to changing their minds, and they are going to be keeping a close eye on Governor Perry to see how he performs in the next few weeks. Particular attention will be placed on the next Republican presidential debate, which will be held on September 7th in Simi Valley, California. It will be Perry’s first debate in the presidential race, and expectations for a good performance are high. The pressure is on, and the question on everyone’s mind is: “Can Rick Perry defeat Barack Obama?”
BACHMANN’S WARDROBE MALFUNCTION: COULD IT COST HER VOTES?
August 23rd, 2011
August 23rd, 2011
Knoxville, Iowa- Only ten days ago, Michele Bachmann was on top of the world. She was fresh off her victory in the Ames Straw Poll, and had been a rising star in the GOP. Now she’s in a battle for her political life as she struggles to halt the mass exodus of her supporters to Rick Perry’s camp. Donations to her campaign from supporters have declined since Perry’s entrance into the race, and Bachmann herself acknowledged reluctantly that her campaign had “hit a small bump in the road”. Nevertheless, she expresses confidence that she will be the Republican nominee. That confidence may have taken a blow today. While fundraising at a barbeque in Young Park, Bachmann had a wardrobe malfunction that rose more than a few eyebrows. Bachmann was speaking to a crowd of supporters about the dangers of the President’s healthcare law while eating a hamburger when one of the straps on her bra broke, causing her to reflexively reach to fix it. She disappeared into her campaign bus for about five minutes, presumably to get a quick change of clothes. When she emerged again, she quickly apologized to the crowd and resumed the discussion she’d been having with an elderly woman about Obamacare. Word of Bachmann’s broken bra spread quickly on the internet, with videos of the event being posted on Youtube. Bachmann’s campaign went into damage-control mode, issuing an apology for the accident. However, it appears to not have been good enough for some social conservatives, who are rethinking their support for the Minnesota Congresswoman. One local woman from Knoxville had this to say about the incident, “I came here as a supporter of Michele Bachmann, but now I’m not so sure. I agree with a lot of what she says. I think the President is a socialist, I think Obamacare is killing jobs in this country, Obama is destroying our civil liberties, and I think we need to get him out of office as soon as possible, but I don’t know if I can support this woman. That was just plain public indecency back there, and I really expected more from her.”
YAHOO POLL (8/24/11)
Does Michele Bachmann’s wardrobe malfunction make you more or less likely to vote for her?
More Likely- 9%
Less Likely- 23%
It doesn’t matter to me- 68%
126,473 votes
THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES DEBATE TONIGHT
September 7th, 2011
September 7th, 2011
Simi Valley, California- The eight candidates for the Republican presidential nomination will be meeting tonight at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to debate the issues and have a hopefully productive exchange of ideas on how to fix the nation. Voters will be able to witness all of the candidates speak, including Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry. Special attention, however, will be placed on Governor Perry, seeing as how this will be his first debate since his late entry into the race in August. Since his entry, voters appear to be rallying around the Governor in droves, turning him into the overnight frontrunner. The pressure is on for every single candidate in this race to do well in tonight’s debate, and the outcome could possibly decide any one of their fates.
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