The much-awaited Republican straw poll is today. Mitt Romney is expected to win big. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has said he needs to do well in order to continue his campaign.
I'm not in Ames, but a friend of mine from NBC News is. He tells me Sen. Jim Talent is there today. (An earlier report that Gov. Blunt is there was wrong.)
I got to speak to Gov. Blunt yesterday briefly about Romney. He told me that Romney will be a candidate who benefits with exposure. If Romney wins Ames BIG (as expected), count on that exposure.
Blunt also told me yesterday that he will accompany Romney on his campaign visit to Springfield on Tuesday.
Back to Ames . . . early media reports indicate that Romney by far has the most supporters there. In second with supporters, is Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, according to pure eyeball counts. I'm also reading that Ron Paul has a good contingent of support in Ames. (He also has a nice base of support in Springfield -- I've seen more Ron Paul bumper stickers driving around the Queen City than any other 2008 candidate.)
Because most of the participants in the straw poll are bought and paid for ($35) by the candidates -- it's unclear how much money the Rudy Giuliani and John McCain camps are spending to send people to vote for less viable candidates to hurt Romney's victory margin.
But if Huckabee doesn't finish top 3 . . . he's probably out of 'Hope.'
Developing . . .
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