Updated: Bachmann calls win at straw poll 'first step' toward White House

AMES - Waterloo native Michele Bachmann fired a resounding opening volley in the race for the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination Saturday by besting her competitors in the much-watched Iowa GOP straw poll.

“You've done it, Iowa,” a beaming Bachmann told her cheering supporters outside Hilton Coliseum, the site of the $30-per-vote fundraiser. “Now it's on to all 50 states.”

Bachmann thanked her supporters, saying “we did this together” and called Saturday's victory “the very first step in taking the White House in 2012.

“We just sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president,” Bachmann said.

The three-term Minnesota congresswoman finished first with 4,823 votes of the 16,892 Iowa Republicans that cast ballots. It was a turnout that Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn said “blew the doors off what we did four years ago” and which he said was evidence of a resurging party.

Bachmann's tally was 152 votes ahead of Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was a distant third and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was a better-than-expected fourth.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is considered the national front-runner, did not compete in this year's straw poll after winning it in 2007, but still polled 567 votes for seventh place. He has said he plans to campaign in Iowa, but he and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are devoting most of their attention to New Hampshire.

Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said he was elated with Paul's second-place finish, noting the Texas congressman topped Romney's 2007 vote total.

“Today, Ron Paul has emerged as a top-tier candidate and is a serious contender to win the Republican nomination and the presidency,” Benton said. “Dr. Paul is surging in this race, and today's results show the strength of his grass roots support and top notch organization.”

Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford was unconvinced.

“If Paul had won, it would have been taken by people around the country not that the Republican Party did something right, but that Iowa Republicans did something very strange,” Goldford said.

“He's got a small, devoted core of supporters that's not going to get much bigger.

“He did well today, he finished in the top three,” the Drake political scientist added. “In a small pond, a modestly sized rock can make a big splash and that's what Paul did.”

Pawlenty, who has clashed at times with his Minnesota rival - most recently in Thursday's debate in Ames - issued a brief statement congratulating Bachmann.

“We made progress in moving from the back of the pack into a competitive position for the caucuses, but we have a lot more work to do,” Pawlenty said in the statement. “This is a long process to restore America - we are just beginning and I'm looking forward to a great campaign.”

Goldford said Pawlenty's campaign going forward greatly depends on fundraising.

“If (Pawlenty) can raise money over the next month, it won't kill him,” Goldford said of Pawlenty's third-place showing. “If he can't raise money over the next month, it did kill him.”

Goldford said Bachmann's victory demonstrated the strength of star power and passion over organization. He noted she overcame campaign efforts by Paul and Pawlenty that got started much earlier than hers.

However, the impressive showing also spoke to her campaign's support and ability to deliver boots on the ground, he said.

“Michele Bachmann had a very good victory,” he said. “Her bubble was not deflated by this event. So she lives to fight on. The looming presence for her is Rick Perry because he appeals to exactly the same constituency.”

Bachmann's victory gives her some early momentum in a still-unfolding GOP presidential race that officially welcomed the Texas governor into the race on Saturday. Even though he has not campaigned in Iowa, Perry's supporters mustered a write-in effort that drew 718 votes, a sixth-place finish behind Georgia businessman Herman Cain.

Perry is scheduled to travel to Waterloo today for a Black Hawk County GOP event. Bachmann also plans to attend.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who played bass guitar with several bands performing at the various candidate tents outside Hilton Coliseum, said Saturday's results likely will pour political gasoline on campaigns that are catching fire and douse others. Huckabee finished second in the 2007 straw poll and parlayed that into a caucus victory five months later before fading in a nominating race won by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who was camped out near the straw poll site, said the 2012 presidential race will offer a sharp contrast for voters. She said it didn't matter which Republican wins the GOP nomination because “they are all hellbent to getting to the right of one another.”

“The field is really driven to outright wing each other,” Wasserman-Schultz told reporters. “I can't imagine that Rick Perry is going to do anything other than what the other nine or 10 candidates have been doing.”

2011 Straw Poll Full Results

Nearly 17,000 ballots were cast in Saturday's Iowa GOP straw poll event in Ames. U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota took the top spot followed closely by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty came in third. Here are the results (total votes, overall percent):

1. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (4,823, 28.55 percent)

2. Congressman Ron Paul (4,671, 27.65 percent)

3. Governor Tim Pawlenty (2,293, 13.57 percent)

4. Senator Rick Santorum (1,657, 9.81 percent)

5. Herman Cain (1,456, 8.62 percent)

6. Governor Rick Perry (718, 3.62 percent) write-in

7. Governor Mitt Romney (567, 3.36 percent)

8. Speaker Newt Gingrich (385, 2.28 percent)

9. Governor Jon Huntsman (69, 0.41 percent)

10. Congressman Thad McCotter (35, 0.21 percent)

*Scattering (218, 1.30 percent) Includes all those receiving votes at less than one-percent that were not on the ballot.