Iowa Republicans hope that a nationally broadcast GOP presidential debate they’ve scheduled for August 11, 2011, in Ames will up the stakes for the Iowa Straw Poll two days later.
“We wanted to make sure it’s bigger and better and more prominent than it’s ever been before,” Republican Party of Iowa chair Matt Strawn said Thursday in a conference call with reporters, less than an hour after announcing the two events.
The Iowa Straw Poll has historically been considered the critical first test of grassroots support for Republican presidential candidates in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
However, the future of the Ames Republican straw poll was cast into doubt in June 2007 after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain decided to skip the key event leading up to the caucus.
That’s something the Iowa GOP hopes to avoid this time around.