Romney buys victory in Iowa.
Huckabee earns it.

The ProConPundit believes that the Iowa GOP Straw vote is useless and pivotal at the same time. Its an unofficial "election" where voters pay $ 35 to vote and have to go to great effort to vote. 14,000 voted, McCain and Giuliani skipped the poll, while Romney worked Iowa hard to the tune of 5 million dollars. Romney spent 2.5 million dollars in campaign ads and another 2.5 million in campaign materials. He garnered 4516 votes.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee spent pennies in comparison and eked out 2587 votes. The useless part of the straw vote is that two of the top contenders took a pass and Romney bought votes. It is pivotal for Huckabee in that he earned his votes by doing retail politics and, by coming in second, even in such a small and insignificant race, it gives him some hope of moving to the top tier. The ProConPundit has come to like Huckabee in recent months as he has become better know. I am still not comfortable with a Baptist minister in the White House and I may never be ready for another governor from Arkansas! But Huckabee is working hard to go places. Should McCain, who is still the best qualified contender, fall off the chart, the ProConPundit will be shopping for a new contender and I can’t see it being Rudy or Romney. If you want to learn more about Huckabee, check this out: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=About.Home

In fairness, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) came in a few hundred votes behind Huckabee. I don’t think it says as much for Brownback as he is from nearby Kansas and should have done well in Iowa. The sooner Brownback and other "not-a-chance" wannabees exit the stage, the more attention can be given to serious contenders. Brownback is a VERY angry guy and we Americans DO NOT elect angry people to the White House. Except for Nixon...and well, Carter. Almost never!

P.S. Mike Huckabee’s star is rising and this will be his time to see if he can make it to the big leagues. If he can’t, he will likely carve out a pivotal spot for himself as the running mate to the nominee. Why? Arkansas only has six electoral votes and is a reliably red state. However, if Hillary Clinton runs, Bill will work Arkansas and try to carry it. In a close election, moving Arkansas to a Democratic win could win Hillary the election. Having Huckabee as the running mate may insure that it stay red.