The Iowa Independent is reporting its own power rankings culled from “staff members, additional state political reporters, party activists, academics, elected officials, political consultants and other insiders”. Whether or not the fact that Governor Mike Huckabee is atop the rankings is relevant is not the point here. I have stated elsewhere that narrow polls such as online polls, straw polls, email polls, and other self-selected polling give little or no indication of who is a front-runner or how well a candidate will do next year.
Nevertheless, there are two things to be gained from this article. First, it is the opinion of many within the Iowa Political Superstructure (even those who are not part of the Huckabee team) that his on-the-ground-organization is still intact. While a few leaders may have abandoned him, the rank and file apparently have not. Second, there is no reason to believe that this can’t be replicated in many other states. Perhaps, Huckabee was crazy-like-a-fox in 2008 when he continued to campaign in Virginia, Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas, and other states after Mitt Romney dropped out. Remember, Huckabee got the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News after Super Tuesday.
80% of those polled picked Huckabee to win, half the remaining (including former WHO-Radio talk show host, Steve Deace, left him off the ballot, believing he won’t run)
The remainder of the top five finishers were Tim Pawlenty (great news for him!), Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Michelle Bachmann.