In defense of the Iowa Straw Poll

The Iowa Straw Poll, its detractors say, is so unforgivably corny as to be almost embarrassing.

Critics argue the Straw Poll is expensive and a poor predictor of candidate viability - a pork political project in a pork state.

I, however, find the Straw Poll's charms many and alluring, so long as one appreciates the event for what it is: political pomp and spectacle mixed with old-fashioned picnic populism. I attended for the first time in Ames in 2011, and I can tell you our little 'corn poll” easily represents the best chance Iowans have to meet the entire slate of GOP presidential candidates in-person. And isn't that the point? To let folks size up the job applicants in the flesh and on the hoof, serving as a sort of well-fed focus group?

Chances for the kind of face-to-face flesh-pressing and feet-to-the-flame-questioning offered by the Straw Poll grow rarer each election cycle. Presidential candidates know that strategic ad buys, well-placed surrogates, and savvy use of social media, they can make it seem they're here when they're actually AWOL.

We Iowans sometimes forget that just as easily as the powers-that-be gifted us with our first-in-the-nation status, they could just as easily take it away - that is, if other early-voting states like New Hampshire and South Carolina don't relieve us of our duties first.

National political bosses and media politicos don't always approve of our homely Straw Poll and the contrarian or unconventional candidates it sometimes elevates. They laugh at the barbecue stains on our bibs and sneer at just how easily and cheaply we're plied for our votes.

This is precisely why keeping the Straw Poll is so important. It belongs to us in an era when candidates would prefer to meet us on their terms: in cyberspace or on television. If candidates want to treat us to beef brisket and ice cream, we shouldn't be portrayed as dupable simpletons when we take them up on their offer.

So, if, you're on the fence about the Iowa Straw Poll, I say try it out and see what you think. Love it or hate it, at least it's homegrown.

' Zachary Michael Jack is a seventh-generation Iowan and lives in rural Jones County. Comments: zmichaeljack@gmail.com