http://www.domasjefferson.com/news/bachmann-rigged-iowa-poll-by-buying-at-least-4000-votes
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is being called the "Queen of the Straw Poll" after her victory at the Iowa straw poll yesterday for the GOP presidential nomination.
Bachmann, who finished with 4823 votes, narrowly beat second-place finisher Congressman Ron Paul who collected 4671 votes.
The Ames poll, although important because of the early significance of Iowa in the primaries, is nonbinding and unscientific.
AFP reported that "It has been criticized as playing too heavily in favor of candidates that are well financed, since their campaigns can buy the $30 tickets for their supporters to attend and presumably vote in their favor."
The Ames event was considered to be a Republican fundraiser, yet Bachmann's campaign bought and "handed out at least 4,000 free tickets to supporters."
Therefore, Bachmann appears to have rigged the vote at a minimum direct cost of $120,000 to her campaign.
Another anomaly with the vote surfaced this morning when it was discovered that 218 votes went unaccounted for. In other words, these votes were in the overall tally but not registered to any of the candidates.
One would think the media would attempt to uncover the discrepancy given the razor thin 152-vote margin between Bachmann and Paul. However, so far, they've been content to call her the "queen" of the event.
The 200 votes were "scattering." I don't see how Bachmann rigged the vote. All people who voted in the Ames poll are suppose to be Iowa citizens
'Men do not change, they unmask themselves' - Germaine de Stael
Think the claim is bogus. Any real proof?
The real news in the straw poll was that the libertarian position dominated. Bachmann, the clearest tea party candidate, won with 28% of the votes. Ron Paul came in a very close 2nd with 27% of the vote. That's 55% percent combined. I think in terms of economics and fiscal policy, the majority of Americans are coming around. I suspect the division is with the support of libertarian positions on war and social issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc.). What are the chances of a Bachmann-Paul or Paul-Bachmann ticket? [not necessarily a dream ticket, but anything with Ron Paul in it is far better than most]
While I don't believe the political path is productive, it's good to see that libertarian ideas are gaining in popularity. There's still a long way to go on that front, but compared to the past 30-40 years this is significant movement.
The Ames straw poll is basically a test of who can organize a campaign the best, not a "fair" voting poll. It's absolutely acceptable to buy tickets and hand them out for free if that's what a campaign wants to do. The Bachmann campaign's money went from her campaign fund into the Iowa Republican Party's treasury, if that's who runs the poll. It's not terribly shocking. I beleive Paul was doing something similar.
Keep in mind that taking a "free" ticket to vote from a campaign in no way meant that you were obligated to vote for that person. The fact that Bachmann claimed to have handed out over 6,000 tickets but only recieved a little uner 5,000 speaks to this. I wouldn't be surprised if a few hundred of her tickets were used to cast votes for Paul.
This poll is hardly scientific and proves nothing. However, it does bring exposure to Ron Paul, which is always nice.
I think this guy captures what OP is getting at...
Honestly, I don't really understand what all the Paul fans are always complaining about. Ron Paul for a guy that is basically still on the fringe of the political ideological spectrum gets proportionally more media coverage then anybody out there. He has been invited as a political and economic commentator repeatedly on CNN, MSN, Fox, and most of all Fox Business, as well as on other cable networks, way more then most of these clowns now considered to be top runners. Campaign season is back in the air, so it's natural that he will now get less coverage then the actual real candidates.
Well, they said that Bachmann got 'clear' victory and ignored Ron totally. They could have at least said his success was surprising or something!
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very good find. this really shows how remarkable ron paul's results in that poll were. he probably didn't have to buy a single vote in that poll.
Bachmann didn't "buy" votes. She advertised her popularity through a musician by handing out tickets for entry with the implication that the recipient will vote for Bachmann in return for the good time. Unfortunately that is politics. People are dumb. It is comprable to buying votes, but not technically the same thing.
Paul was at his tent talking tabout real issues and saving our liberty and Bachmann was throwing a "popular rich kid's party". To restate: People are...Dumb.
Aristophanes:Bachmann didn't "buy" votes. She advertised her popularity through a musician by handing out tickets for entry with the implication that the recipient will vote for Bachmann in return for the good time. Unfortunately that is politics. People are dumb. It is comprable to buying votes, but not technically the same thing.