Republican hopeful Mitt Romney cruised to an expected win in the first key test of next year's White House race, in a party popularity poll in Iowa devalued by the absence of his top rivals.
The former Massachusetts governor captured 31.5 percent of the vote in the non-binding party straw poll in the midwestern state, which holds the first nominating contest for Democratic and Republican candidates next year.
"Today, the people of Iowa took the first step towards bringing change to Washington," Romney said.
"This important victory sends a signal to grassroots Republican activists across the country that we are working hard to earn their support, and that we are ready to begin the work of strengthening our economy, our military and our families."
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee put in a strong showing, coming in second with 18.1 percent, with Senator Sam Brownback, who has courted the Republican Party's conservative Christian base on 15.3 percent.
The Iowa straw poll is a traditional curtain raiser to the presidential election season, but was hit this year by the absence of several top contenders.
Rudolph Giuliani, the ex-mayor of New York, and Senator John McCain balked at shelling out several millions of dollars needed to bus in thousands of supporters to the straw poll, with tickets going for US$35 a head.
They also judged there was little to be gained by risking a poor showing in the event, five months before the Iowa caucuses.
Former screen star and senator Fred Thompson was also missing, as he has not yet officially launched his campaign, though is expected to jump into the race in September.
national polls
Giuliani leads most Republican national polls, ahead of Fred Thompson, with Romney trailing. But Romney tops opinion polls in Iowa, and another early voting state New Hampshire after pouring millions of dollars into his campaign.
Rock bottom showings by several other candidates in Iowa looked set to winnow down the Republican field.
Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson said he would end his campaign if he failed to come in the first two spots in the straw poll: in the event he trailed in sixth with just seven percent of the vote.
Another Republican long-shot congressman Duncan Hunter was ninth with just one percent.
Counting of the 14,000 votes by activists by state Republican Party officials was slowed by a voting machine glitch, and came after a day of political pageantry, barbecues, political speech making and music concerts in this university town.
Earlier, thousands of Republican Party faithful flocked to the indoor sports arena hosting speeches from top candidates.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS