Mark Your Calendars!

ABC News’ David Chalian Reports:  The Iowa Republican Party has set the date for its high profile and influential quadrennial straw poll. 

The straw poll — set to take place in Ames, IA on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007 — is a party fundraiser that doubles as the first key Hawkeye State test determining who’s up and who’s down in the Republican presidential field, showcasing a candidate’s ability to mobilize the GOP grassroots forces who are likely to prove critical when caucus time rolls around in January 2008.

Then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas won the straw poll in August 1999 as he began his march to the Republican nomination in 2000.  Nearly 25,000 Republican activists participated in the straw poll that year.