One Down

Out of the top five Ames Straw Poll participants, distant third place Tim Pawlenty has already exited the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The top two, Michele Bachman who offered free Randy Travis concert tickets in exchange for support and Texas Congressman Ron Paul who has been seeing increasing support for his well-reasoned, pro-economy and pro-personal liberty positions basically were in a statistical tie with only 150 odd votes out of nearly 17,000 between them.

Rick Santorum having to devolve into name calling instead of being able to make legitimate foreign policy arguments in the last debate continues to cast doubt on his maturity to lead. This is in addition to his radical policy opinions that essentially involve using government to force his religious opinions and doctrine on all citizens. He managed less than 10%.