Bachmann wins straw poll

[RydiaLockheart]

link

I do wonder exactly how important straw polls are. Lots of times they seem more symbolic. The article also brings up a good point: how will Perry's entry into the race cut into her numbers? Both tend to appeal to the same evangelical demographic.

I do wonder if this is a harbinger of the primaries. If a Bachmann or Palin gets the nomination, Obama would most likely be reelected. As mentioned in another thread, fringe candidates scare the centrists and independents.

[Iron-Hampster]

pros: she has conviction for what she believes in, and has charisma.

cons: she looks like she has no soul, her campaign is based on manipulated facts, lies, and false statements, and is addicted to cheap one liners+ slogans. unqualified.

she reminds me of a barbie doll. just as good looking and just as smart.

[Malachy]

The way the media has been playing it, it's not so important to the winners or the middle of the pack, but to the losers. If you can't even do well with the Iowa poll or something like CPAC then you are wasting time and money by staying in the race. We'll probably see a campaign or two wind down after these results. Often with these kinds of things it's a fringe conservative (or liberal in comparable democratic gatherings) who does well (Bachmann and Paul are really close - Ron Paul does well in the CPAC straw poll as well)...Of the two, Bachmann is probably the most likely to have a real run for the nomination but she's still pretty out there. This is more a check to see what the base thinks about the field - you do well or in the middle and you can expect to keep the base in your camp come the General election...but if you do poorly you might realize the base isn't all that interested in you and you might not be able to count on their support in a general election.

[Warforger]

She doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell after this.

[BrianEtrius]

If the straw polls mean anything for other candidates, it means more than not Newt (2%), Cain(9%), and Santorum (10%) are out. For them to make a strong enough impact on the national level they would of had to reach even third to make a difference, otherwise they'll get eaten alive at New Hampshire.

Pawlenty and Perry should be interesting. With Pawlenty coming in third he could have a shot at the nod, but he has to make a huge splash in New Hampshire. Same with Perry and Paul, but for some reason I see that Perry has much more to prove than Paul.

Sadly for Huntsman, as Heidi Klum loves to say, "Auf Wiedersehen". He had to win it big here to make a difference, and that's not the case. Sorry chap, I might of voted for you, but it's not likely to happen.

Still, even with this win, Romney is the candidate to beat. It's nothing against Bachmann, but nationally that's how the ball rolls.

[SmilezRoyale]

I don't anticipate the straw poll being taken very seriously. The only thing people were looking forward to was the possibility that TPaw or Bachman did very poorly and would thus likely drop out. However the poll results can be looked at both ways, i.e. 1. TPaw is a viable candidate for making it in the top 3, 2. Tpaw is an nonviable candidate for getting less than half of the votes garnered by Bachman.

I'm glad that Ron Paul made 2nd place as opposed to 1st and even more glad that he was relatively close to Bachman, being slightly under 200 short. Had he gotten 1st place, the rest of the 'electable' candidates would have had a huge incentive to discount the results, [even more so if he had won in a landslide], and odds are they would have gotten away with it. Whatever credibility the straw poll had would have been lost. If Bachman, Tpaw, or even Santorum go around parading their relative success, they'll further legitimize the results.

[Camarohusky]

Straw poll means very litte. Even fewer people vote for this than in the primaries, so naturally you'll find the more extreme candidates will win.

Does this have any reall effect on the real election? Maybe. However that effect will be extremely miniscule at best. I do hope the right goes with Bachmann so they will lose come general election time, however, I know they're not stupid. The Palin effect is still fresh in their minds.

[MillsApparatus]

If Bachmann were alive in the 1920s, she'd have signed up with Mussolini as soon as she could. One in the same there, fascism is fascism.

[camobch0]

If Bachman and her closet husband somehow won the election, I'd just lose the last bit of hope I have left for this country.

[Proteas]

At 8/13/11 07:34 PM, Iron-Hampster wrote: cons: she looks like she has no soul, her campaign is based on manipulated facts, lies, and false statements, and is addicted to cheap one liners+ slogans. unqualified.

Oh, so you mean she'll fit right in with the rest of our elected officials in Washington? Sweet.

[aviewaskewed]

I saw something about this on the local news where a big deal was made of the fact that Bachmann had a concert from a country star (I forget which one, don't listen to that music, they all sound/look the same to me) and was charging 30 dollars and the promise of a vote for admittance. So I have to wonder if this can really be read as a case of people voting for Bachmann, or voting for a concert they wanted to see. I think it'll be interesting to watch what happens in the real primaries where these kinds of bells and whistles won't be allowed.

[Ranger2]

Yuck. I would vote for Romney in a heartbeat, and I would consider Pawlenty seriously. But if Bachmann wins the primary I will vote for Obama.

[HogWashSoup]

I am not voting for anyone in 2012 because no matter who wins, no matter who becomes president, nothing will be fixed. The whole government needs to be replaced. Every one of those scum bags needs to be replaced.

[BrianEtrius]

And Plawlenty drops out. Gee, not even as much as a fight.

[orangebomb]

At 8/13/11 06:54 PM, RydiaLockheart wrote: link

I do wonder exactly how important straw polls are. Lots of times they seem more symbolic. The article also brings up a good point: how will Perry's entry into the race cut into her numbers? Both tend to appeal to the same evangelical demographic.

Straw polls are virtually irrelevent in the long term, because it's really about recent popularity and the wow factor, more so than the issues. Plus, with Perry entering the race, her potential voters are going to be cut down to size by the primary elections.

I do wonder if this is a harbinger of the primaries. If a Bachmann or Palin gets the nomination, Obama would most likely be reelected. As mentioned in another thread, fringe candidates scare the centrists and independents.

Bachmann and Palin are virtually toxic, because of their appeal to the Tea Party {one-trick pony morons} and their stances on social issues are borderline extreme, which would only compound the problems, instead of solving it. Then again, a centerist did win the '08 election, and things haven't gone so smoothly at all since, so some people are more than willing to go a little farther down the spectrum, if it means fixing the economy and creating jobs.

For now, I'll wait until the early primaries next year, before I start to worry about Palin, Bachmann or anyone else.