I'm confused...can someone explain this GOP straw poll thing?

[hopein08]

I just don't get how it works or what it means. Sorry if it is a dumb question. But would anyone be kind enough to help? Include the McCain pullout details, if you please.

Many thanks!

[hopein08]

1. Anybody? n/t

[acmejack]

2. Since you asked

According to the ever popular New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, "Originally, a small, informal opinion survey. Today, a straw poll is generally a large-scale, scientifically determined public opinion survey based on a random sample of the population. Straw polls are commonly used to test public opinion of candidates running for office."

http://www.bartleby.com/59/14/strawpoll.html

The New York Times had this about McCain's ploy:
snip>
Nearly 2,000 Republicans gathered here to listen to six potential presidential candidates and then pick their favorite in a straw poll on Saturday. No matter that it is 22 months until a single Republican votes: the Southern Republican Leadership Conference quickly turned into a swirling political circus, complete with candidates, senators, governors, consultants and television crews tromping through the ornate lobby of the Peabody Hotel.

But on Friday, Senator John McCain of Arizona, one of the party's leading prospective presidential candidates, announced he would instruct his supporters not to vote for him and to instead write in the name of President Bush, as a show of support.

The move left supporters of Mr. McCain's main rival — Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, who had been looking for a big hometown win — sputtering. And it greatly diminished the importance of an event that was, truth be told, of debatable significance in the first place.
snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/politics/11repubs.html

[Catchawave]

3. I'm confused too....Chris Matthews

on MSNBC has been pimping this thing since yesterday. Annoyingly republicanly biased :shrug: So I've ignored it :( Sorry, that wasn't much of a help. You might want to slum over on the Hardball website at MSNBC for more details.

IMHO, I don't think any of the "republicans" attending this "thing" are going to be on the GOP ticket come '08

[Rageneau]

4. All I know is, Democrats did the same thing in 1978 -- and never recovered

I was in Memphis in 1978, when it seemed the whole world was Democatic. Carter was President, and for some reason I never understood, the party decided to have a "Midterm Convention" in the city that cotton built.

The whole affair was one big shoving party. Shrill and demanding representatives of all the then-prominent "causes" attempted to get the whole party to acknowledge that "their" issue -- whether it be the ERA, Gay Rights, Affirmative Action, National Health Care, Energy Conservation, Gun Control and I-don't-know-what-all -- was the urgent issue, the ONLY issue that mattered.

Nothing good came out of that Memphis gathering. In fact, it made me -- even then a liberal Democrat -- start to feel uncomfortable about the direction of my party. So many selfish and arrogant abrasive personalities; so much posturing by so many party members. Talk about losing sight of the big picture!

From that day forward, I've watched as the party deteriorated into a dozen squabbling factions -- each convinced they were the "true" Democrats. And from that day forward, I've watched a unified Republican Party gain more and more power against us.

It's interesting to me to see history repeating itself. Once again the incumbent party is having a midterm meeting in Memphis for no particular reason. Once again that party is divided within itself, factionalized by disagreements as to what are the priorities and policies to follow.

Let's hope they savage themselves as badly as we did back then. And let's hope that the result is a complete change in the incumbent party and the direction of the country.