August 14, 2007 07:27am

The Big Win At Ames

A lot of people have written their stories about the straw poll victory we enjoyed at Ames. Having seen the effort and the triumph from the inside, I thought I'd share a few of my own thoughts and photos.

1. Why do you think that Governor Romney won?

He won for two reasons. First, my Dad is the best candidate in the race. But the fact is that as the people in Iowa have gotten to know my Dad, they have liked him and his message. He has traveled extensively across Iowa (over 200 events total) and answered hundreds of questions in dozens and dozens of townhalls open to the public and the media. And he has risen from about 5% in Iowa to 28% and first place in the polls in only a few months.

The second reason he did so well was the fantastic campaign organization that was built in Iowa. Some journalists have called it the deepest, most organized campaign team ever assembled in Iowa. Matt Lewis from Townhall.com wrote a piece today that touches on the organization on the day of the straw poll. In addition to that the campaign staff did an extraordinary job of organizing and motivating voters to come out to a straw poll that many were saying had already been won. Which leads to question number 2.

2. Without some of the other top tier candidates there, does this qualify as a win?

Yes. As my Dad has said, if the other guys thought they could have won or even done well, they would have been there. Which makes the win all that more extraordinary. Do you know how hard it is to motivate voters to hop on a bus on a Saturday morning and drive several hours each way so they can wait around for hours more in 100 degree sticky heat, all for the privilege of voting for a candidate who has everyone says is a shoe-in to win?

We offered barbeque sandwiches to folks there, which was the least we could do for our supporters who braved temperatures reaching 100 degrees. And do you think that holds a candle to what they could have had a few miles down the road at the state fair? Fried twinkies, fried snicker bars, pork chops on a stick, fried Oreos... Yes, I tried them all and heavenly doesn't begin to describe them. And you think offering them a bus ride and a pulled pork sandwich is what got them to Ames?

This was an extremely dedicated bunch and some of the most conservative voters in the country. We had to overcome several obstacles to win but the win shows that my Dad's message is resonating with conservative voters.

3. How does this help?

This will help with my Dad's name ID. He was the number one blogged about muggle the last few days, beaten only by Harry Potter. The straw poll also helps us get ready for the critical Iowa caucus in January. We put our campaign organization in Iowa through a full-body workout. We identified thousands of voters as Mitt Romney supporters. And we showed commitment to the political process and to the people of Iowa.

With a win in Ames, the race is far from over. Our strategy is to do well in the early primary states and to build momentum nationally as a result. The Straw Poll victory is the first step on our road to the GOP nomination and eventually the presidency. It's great to have you all on board with us! See Craig's post below on signing up 48,000 new Team Mitt supporters in 48 hours - please pass the word along.