◼ Iowa GOP leaders decided on Saturday the nine names to include on the ballot for next month’s straw poll in Ames, leaving off Rick Perry and Sarah Palin, but including the names of most declared candidates — even several who have opted not to compete in the vote.... Declared candidates Buddy Roemer and Gary Johnson were left off the ballot....
Perry is expected to decide whether or not he’ll run shortly after the straw poll. Not having him on the ballot means that Pawlenty and Bachmann will not have to compete with him for votes, but recalibrates how many votes they’ll have to get to seem strong.
“It helps them because they don’t face that competition,” longtime Iowa GOP activist Doug Gross told POLITICO. “It’ll be a race between Bachmann, Pawlenty and Paul.” - Politico
