The more I read about this Ames Iowa straw poll the more of a racket it sounds like.
Candidates pay $35.00 for “tickets” for supporters and people have to drive (or get bused, or get reimbursed for mileage) to Ames Iowa to vote and while they are in Ames the candidates have to wine and dine the supporters. The candidates with deep pockets are happy to fork over the cash (over $1,107 per vote) because they get a news cycle of having “won” something.
The net/net is that this ruse is a total cash cow for the Iowa Republican Party. It sounds like politics, but really it is a very tidy little scam. It is a racket that you would be more likely to associate with Tony Soprano than with Thomas Jefferson.
So, being a profit minded American, the thought occurs to me…Why doesn’t the Delaware Democratic Party set up a little straw poll of its own?
It would take a few Presidential election cycles to start garnering headlines but what the heck? Someone from Del Dems call me. When this gets going, I want a cut of the profits.