And the winner is: Michele Bachmann

◼ Breaking: Michele Bachmann wins the Ames Straw Poll - Chris Cillizza/Washington Post
◼ Ames straw poll results: Bachmann wins narrowly over Paul - HotAir
◼ Iowa Straw Poll Winner Announced - Michelle Malkin
◼ "Michele Bachmann wins the Iowa straw poll. Ron Paul finishes second." - Althouse

Newt Gingrich: Supercommittee a 'dumb' idea

◼ Speaking Thursday during the GOP presidential debate in Ames, Iowa, the former House speaker questioned the legitimacy of the 12-member panel that Democratic and Republican congressional leaders filled this week. - Politico

"I think this super committee is about as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with in my lifetime," Gingrich said. "I used to run the House of Representatives. I have some general notion of these things. The idea that 523 senators and congressmen are going to sit around for four months while 12 brilliant people, mostly picked for political reasons, are going to sit in some room and brilliantly come up with a trillion dollars, or force us to choose between gutting our military and accepting a tax increase, is irrational.

"They're going to walk in just before Thanksgiving and say, 'All right, we can shoot you in the head or cut off your right leg, which do you prefer?'" he added. "What they ought to do is scrap the committee right now, recognize it's a dumb idea, go back to regular legislative business, assign every subcommittee the task of finding savings. Do it out in the open through regular legislative order and get rid of this secret phony business."

All eyes on Iowa

◼ Michele Bachmann has now given away 6,000 tickets at the Ames Straw Poll, a source familiar with the organization said. It's a number that suggests she'll leave the event with a serious head of steam.... Ron Paul's campaign is the other boasting of similar numbers... - Politico

◼ Iowa GOP

What's happening in Iowa today

◼ Video: A taste of the Ames poll environment _ Ed Morrissey/HotAir
◼ Get it all here - http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/

◼ Huckabee at the straw poll: ‘America needs Iowa to happen’
◼ Ron Paul has the most buses at Iowa Straw Poll so far, rough count shows
◼ Your Cliff’s Notes guide to the Iowa straw poll

The Iowa Republican straw poll has the power to alter the character of the 2012 presidential race even though it’s only a mock election. Candidates who fare poorly — at least in the eyes of the media — can go from Prince Charming to pumpkin faster than you can say Tommy Thompson. And sometimes the fairest of them all is the candidate who comes in second.

The candidates who are doing the best in media polls are not necessarily the ones who rise to the top in Ames. That fact makes the straw poll hard to predict, and there are a few extra wrinkles this year. The poll’s significance and fairness are always up for discussion as well.

◼ Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad explains why Iowa is the envy of the nation
◼ Bachmann is keeping a low profile
◼ Santorum to Iowa Straw Poll Republicans: “Obamacare” is greatest threat to American freedom
◼ Iowans divided as Perry elbows into presidential race, straw poll spotlight

Perry Makes It Official: He's Running for President

◼ Texas Gov. Rick Perry tossed his cowboy hat into the ring Saturday, shaking up the GOP race as he puts his undefeated political record on the line in his first presidential rodeo. - FOX

"It is time to get America working again and that's why with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for the president of the United States," he said in a speech at a RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Charleston, South Carolina.

◼ Rick Perry: Why I’m Running


◼ rickperry.org ◼ News ◼ Donate

Ron Paul could be a surprise victor in Ames straw poll

◼ On the eve of the Ames Straw Poll, the first major organizing test of the 2012 Republican presidential race, there is a strain of thinking that Paul could seriously challenge the likes of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty for supremacy on Saturday. - Chris Cillizza/Washington Post via Drudge (image source)

“He’s got the supporter passion of a Bachmann with the organization of a Pawlenty,” said one senior Iowa Republican strategist unaffiliated with any of the campaigns. “He builds on 2007 and the caucus last time, and I think he can turn out the 3,000 votes he needs to win.”