Romney Scales Back Straw Poll Plans

Republican presidential hopeful and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at the Ida Grove Pharmacy and Soda Fountain, in Ida Grove, Iowa, Friday, July 20, 2007.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (Nati Harnik - AP)

ALGONA, Iowa -- Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Saturday he has scaled back plans for a straw poll in Iowa next month that two chief rivals are bypassing.

He said he hopes to do well, but "we're not trying to overshoot dramatically." That means reducing the budget for the straw poll Aug. 11 in Ames and the number of supporters his campaign plans to bus in to the event.

In June, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain bowed out of the decades-old nonbinding contest. Romney has put great resources into preparing for the event, which now shapes up as a contest involving several lesser-known contenders.

"I think initially we planned to bring in a very large number of folks from across the state for the straw poll," Romney told reporters. "We've cut back on our target from that standpoint to a level where we think we can win, but we're not trying to overwhelm anybody."

The straw poll is a dress rehearsal that allows GOP candidates to measure their organizational strength months before the Iowa caucuses in January, a one-day contest that requires a strong get-out-the-vote operation.

Republican-only straw polls have been held in every competitive presidential cycle since 1979. No candidate has skipped the event and won Iowa the following January.

Romney said it is important to keep showing his commitment to the straw poll and "engage our base of supporters so that by the time the caucus comes along we'll have our structure in place and our team members that are tried and tested.

"But we have pulled back the level of investment financially that we're making, in part, to recognize that Mayor Giuliani and Senator McCain have decided not to participate, and apparently Senator Thompson as well."

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and actor who is faring well in surveys, has suggested he may launch an unconventional presidential candidacy that would eschew traditions such as the straw poll.

Romney said the straw poll is "not going to be as intense of an event as it would have been had the other front-runners decided to participate."

During a stop in Emmetsburg, the former Massachusetts governor said that Democrats in the 2008 race do not know how to answer the challenges the country faces.

"There are a lot of things we need to do, and I am convinced we will be successful in doing them, but we'll do it not by turning left as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards would do, but by instead turning to strengthen the American people," he said.