Will Romney Be Only Candidate in Iowa Poll?

June 7, 2007— -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be a lonely man in Ames this summer.

The decision by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to skip the August Iowa Republican straw poll has prompted other candidates to re-evaluate their strategies with regard to the nonbinding contest.

The campaigns of former Republican Govs. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Tommy Thompson now say that they are considering not participating in the Ames straw poll, even though both men have previously cast the event as crucial to boosting their credibility as candidates.

"It raises the question of whether the straw poll is in fact an indicator of support of candidates in the state," said Eric Woolson, Huckabee's Iowa campaign director.

"We're in the business of taking gambles," Woolson added. "But are you still going to have 1,000 reporters show up? I don't think so now. How important will it be if you don't have the opportunity to go head-to-head with Giuliani in Iowa? Is second place a prize if McCain and Rudy aren't there?"

Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee was considered an unlikely participant even before Giuliani and McCain made their announcements. Though he's still formally undecided -- and hasn't even announced his candidacy yet -- one Thompson adviser noted that sinking valuable resources into Ames makes less sense with the two national front-runners skipping the event.

In addition, advisers to former Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia say the realization that Romney is likely to dominate the straw poll convinced them to follow Giuliani and McCain in skipping Ames.

"When you think about time, staff, resources and how best to use all of that, we're coming to the conclusion that it makes sense to skip it and focus on other things," said Christian Josi, a Gilmore spokesman.

The Ames contest has long been viewed as vital in the Republican-nominating process, because of its ability to attract tens of thousands of GOP faithful to a giant political festival in the state that holds the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.