Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and probably Fred Thompson are skipping the August 11 Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, as is second-tier candidate Jim Gilmore, but what about another second-tier GOP candidate, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter? A check of his campaign website, GoHunter08.com, finds no mention of the Ames Straw Poll, and an article posted recently by Hunter campaign consultant and conservative blogger John Hawkins at Right Wing News disses the Ames Straw Poll as showing little more than who can afford to bus the most supporters in.
But a recent Des Moines Register story, republished at ThePolitico.com, lists Hunter as actively competing in the Ames event.
Of course, every Republican candidate's name is going to be on the ballot, even those who have announced they are skipping the event. Saying you're participating in the Ames Straw Poll is different from having a serious level of effort to win votes in the Ames Straw Poll. Perhaps Hunter is trying to have it both ways - lower expectations by reminding folks that Ames is, primarily, about money, but also try to win some votes there to do better than expectations and maybe take a chink out of Mitt Romney, the only top-tier candidate actively trying to win the Ames event.
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