With no other top tier candidate remotely playing in the state GOP party fundraiser, it was expected -- and his campaign had been encouraging for months -- an expectation of a win by more than 15 percent. At one point in early May, Romney advisers were predicting the possibility of a majority (better than 50%) win if other top tier candidates chose not to play in the straw poll.
But over the past month Romney and his advisers began lowering the bar of expectations, and did a good job, ensuring this his 31.5% of the votes and 13% margin of victory over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was just good enough.
Romney sources now indicate that he set his sights on the end-of-August Texas straw poll, one that many thought he would not play in. "The dynamic in the race has changed a bit," says one Romney adviser. "We're looking to have a victory somewhere beyond the Midwest, to show we can win down south. Texas is the one we're looking at."
The Texas straw poll, to be held in Dallas the last week of August, is getting little attention in the media. But now that Ames is over, it may garner more attention, particularly if Romney makes a late play to make it a bigger event than previously expected.
p> BUSING ALONG br> Mike Huckabee is getting credit for an excellent showing in the Ames straw poll, and people are trying to figure out how he got the supporters to where they needed to be. One answer lies in the buses that were rented to bring members of the Americans for Fair Taxation organization to their FairTax rally at Ames.
