The Iowa Straw Poll

So no more Iowa Straw Poll in American Presidential elections ?  Well although far less welcome news than actually ditching the 'tradition' of small states like Iowa & New Hampshire having disproportionate influence on elections by running caucuses & primaries ahead of everyone else, that's good news I guess.

Although it means perhaps no more delightful images like these of candidates (& S/O's) guzzling corn-dogs and the like.

Actually, on that basis alone, thanks Iowa Republicans !  You just can't unsee that can you ?



And how's the media covering this ?


Time ?

The Iowa Straw Poll that measured the intensity of the state’s most conservative activists and their love of free ice cream—and little else—was declared dead Friday at the age of 36. The cause of death was irrelevance.

HuffPo ?

R.I.P. Iowa Straw Poll, 1979-2015

NPR ?

A once important political event, which has seen its influence diminished by pay-to-play allegations, breathed its last breath Friday morning.

State Republicans voted to kill the Iowa Straw Poll in a unanimous vote — reversing themselves from a unanimous vote in January to continue it.

Politico ?

The Iowa straw poll — which gave life to Ron Paul, stole it from Tim Pawlenty and offered hope to Rick Santorum — was pronounced dead Friday. It was 36 years old.

Mother Jones ?

The Iowa Straw Poll, a fundraising event for the Republican Party of Iowa that advertised itself as a pivotal proving ground for the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, died on Friday. It was 36.

Daily Beast ?

The Iowa Straw Poll was taken off life support on Friday after losing its battle with relevance.  It was 36 years old.

Hmm...I'm sensing a theme here...  So, what the hell...

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to Americans for Prosperity.

Uh, WTF Diane Rehm ?

Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont who is vying for the Democratic nomination for president, took offense on Wednesday to a statement from a radio talk show host who suggested that he is a dual Israeli-American citizen.

According to a report in the online news magazine Politico, Sanders, who is Jewish, was surprised when WAMU radio host Diane Rehm remarked during their interview, "Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel."

The liberal senator, who is officially an independent but is running as a Democrat, replied: "Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel. I'm an American. I don't know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I'm an American citizen, period."

Rehm, whose show is syndicated nationwide by National Public Radio, said that she learned of Sanders’ purported citizenship status from “a list” that was circulating on the Internet which alleges that a number of senior figures in Congress and the administration hold Israeli citizenship.

"That's some of the nonsense that goes on in the Internet. But that is absolutely not true," Sanders said.

Didn't even know that Sanders was Jewish, but even so, and even if he did hold Israeli citizenship, who gives a shit ?  Until very recently, having been born there, Ted Cruz was a Canadian citizen.  And yet no-one seems to care (unlike the situation with a certain other sitting president say).  And no fact-checking, really ?  Time to consider retirement Diane ?

<Checks Wikipedia, curious about Diane's age (she doesn't exactly sound young, not to be rude), and wait, 'Arab-American', really ?>  Oh shit, this is a potential minefield here.  Time to shut the fuck up...