Finally: Iowa GOP looks set to kill straw poll

Friday could be the day the Iowa Straw Poll dies.

The governing board for the Republican Party of Iowa will revisit going forward with the event during a conference call Friday morning, as some party officials resign themselves to the view that the much-criticized party fundraiser could potentially damage Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, GOP insiders told The Des Moines Register Wednesday.

Back in January, the Iowa GOP board voted 16-0 to proceed with the straw poll, a tradition dating to 1979. It’s a daylong political festival meant to showcase the party’s presidential candidates and to bring Iowa Republicans together for food, music and field-winnowing. This year, it’s scheduled for Aug. 8 at the Central Iowa Expo near Boone.