The Fast Fix: The race begins! | The Fast Fix - Yahoo! News
The Iowa straw poll will kick off the Republican presidential race Saturday. Losing can put a candidate out of the running, but winning doesn't guarantee anything.
The first major test of the 2012 presidential race will be Saturday in the unlikeliest of places -- Ames, Iowa.
Every four years, the Ames Straw poll serves as the official kickoff of the Republican presidential race. Winning can mean newfound frontrunner status. Losing can mean you are out of the race.
Ames is part carnival and part exercise in democracy. Candidates pay to bus in their supporters and spend the day wooing undecided voters with entertainment, food and the occasional bouncy room.
Nine candidates for president will be on the Ames ballot with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann seen as the favorite going into Saturday's vote.
The candidate with the most riding on the Ames result is former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty has struggled to get people excited about his candidacy and if he flops at Ames, he could face calls to leave the race.
Winning the Ames Straw Poll though isn't necessarily a predictor of winning either the Iowa caucuses or the nomination. Mitt Romney won it in 2007 but lost Iowa to Mike Huckabee in 2008. But both Bob Dole in 1995 and George W. Bush in 1999 won Ames and went on to win the Hawkeye State caucuses the following year.
To become the nominee, you have to start winning somewhere. Ames is as good a place as any to get off on the right foot.
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