Ron Paul Gets Award for "Loudest Presence" at Straw PollSigns for Ron Paul's 2008 US Presidential campaign lined the streets and highways leading up to Ames, Iowa Saturday morning. State troopers worked diligently to remove the signage.
Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register reports that the loudest support during Saturday's morning portion of the Iowa Straw Polls went to Ron Paul - an 8 to 1 favorite of those appearing at the event. Online gambling websites removed betting on the 2008 US Presidential Elections during the day Saturday citing the important ramifications of the Straw Poll.
Supporters stood on street corners, enthusiastically waving and holding up signs, according to the Register. At least 10 cars in the parking lot were decorated with giant “Ron Paul” signs. A guy in a minivan broadcasting Paul’s name drove around the Hilton lots honking his horn.
Paul will be facing tough competition in Ames from poll front runner, Mitt Romney, and Sam Brownback, who the media expected to come in second as a result of his aggressive campaigning throughout Iowa.
Sen. Charles Grassley told the Register today it is a mistake for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona to skip the Iowa Republican Party's presidential straw poll in Ames.
Giuliani and McCain decided for strategic reasons not to actively participate in the closely-watched event in Ames.
"I think he should have been in the straw poll," Grassley said about Giuliani as the straw poll got under way around Hilton Coliseum on the Iowa State University campus.
"I think anybody who is not in the straw poll made a mistake," said Grassley, the dean of Iowa's congressional delegation.
Temperatures were expected to get to 95 degrees Saturday afternoon.
The candidates were scheduled to begin speaking inside the Coliseum at 12:24 p.m. Voting goes on all day, and the result will be announced at 7 p.m. Central time (8 pm Eastern Time).
Gambling911.com is bringing you all the latest Iowa Straw Poll news and its impact on 2008 US Presidential odds throughout the day Saturday right here
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Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com
Originally published August 11, 2007 12:32 pm ET
