XXX Won the Iowa Straw Poll
The Ames, Iowa Straw Poll is essentially a fundraiser. But the media, with nothing better to do, have turned it into an event of such significance that it caused one plausible hopeful who didn't do well -- Tim Pawlenty -- to drop out of the race.
The media breathlessly reported the results of the straw poll live. Well, not breathlessly exactly; the Fox "News" team couldn't figure them out:
But they did make much of the fact that Michele Bachmann won the straw poll. Had Rick Perry not rained on her parade by announcing his candidacy the same day as the straw poll, Bachmann would have been the star of the day. As it was, she made the rounds of all five Sunday morning "news" talk shows.
For 152 or a differences of .90 percent; i.e., less than one percent. Well, sez you, a win is a win. Is it?
Bachmann got a commanding 80 percent of the votes she paid for. -- Stephen Colbert
As usual, I get my news from Comedy Central. But occasionally I follow up with other media, like that ever-reliable hard news right-wing Daily Caller. Alex Pappas of said caller writes,
Bachmann ... gave away far more admission tickets than [Rep. Ron Paul] did. Paul’s campaign gave out 4,750 tickets to straw poll voters, his campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, told The Daily Caller. A ... spokeswoman for Bachmann, wouldn’t disclose the number of tickets her campaign distributed. But Ben Smith of Politico reported that Bachmann’s campaign gave away 6,000 tickets. That would mean Paul gave out about 1,250 fewer tickets than Bachmann.
Yet Bachmann won by only 152 votes.
If Pappas' & Smith's reporting is correct, Paul's base is a lot more loyal than Bachmann's. Bachmann paid for 1,177 more tickets than she got votes. Paul paid for only 79 more votes than he garnered. And why, exactly, did Pawlenty drop out? Did he hand out 6,000 tickets? Or even 4,700? I doubt it. The tickets, BTW, cost $30 each. (I don't know whether or not candidates or others get a bulk discount.)
Funny, the MSM has barely mentioned Paul. As Colbert pointed out, Paul was identified as "XXX" in an AP story. When the MSM deign to mention his name, they describe him as a "niche" candidate. Well, yeah, so is Bachmann -- the fundamentalist Christian, anti-government, fairly confused & really angry niche. Here's Jon Stewart on Paul's near-win:
I told you I rely on Comedy Central for the news. (To be fair and balanced, Steve Kornacki of Salon defends the MSM's inattention to Paul.)