With all the talk in the media about how important the Ames Straw Poll results between Bachmann and Pawlenty were going to be (while at the same time hedging their bets by minimizing the meaning of a possible Ron Paul win) a VERY close second place finish by the good doctor is probably the best thing that could have happened. The media can’t say this is a huge plus for Bachmann while at the same time saying that the 152 vote difference second place finisher means that the poll is meaningless...especially when the separation to third place was well over 2,000 votes.
Another huge plus is that the predictions were that a large turnout was going to be bad for Paul because of his “devoted grass-roots army of supporters who are unlikely to support other candidates, but ALWAYS has trouble expanding beyond that hard-core group.” He came within an eyelash of winning WITH a large turnout, which by the media’s own reasoning means his “small but energetic base” is in fact growing!
