Even former Iowa winner Mike Huckabee isn't sure about the straw poll this time

The former Arkansas governor, a GOP presidential candidate, placed second in the straw poll in 2007; a few months later he won the Iowa caucuses.

“Every campaign needs to decide for itself what the best use of their resources is,” Huckabee said during a campaign stop in Johnston, Iowa.

In a 2011 interview with The Hill, Huckabee chided former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and then-Texas governor Rick Perry for skipping the summer event. At the time, he said the straw poll shows a candidate’s ability to organize and sell his or her message.