Gazette coverage plans for the GOP straw poll

All of this excitement over the Iowa Republican Party straw poll comes to a head on Aug. 13 and The Gazette has plans in place to cover it. Zack Kucharski, the information content director in charge of the reporting staff, has come up with the following:

-- Gazette political reporters Rod Boshart and James Q. Lynch will be in Ames to provide analysis that we'll put on a special website The Gazette has established for the build-up to the Feb. 6, 2012, caucuses. The site is IowaCaucus.com.

-- Gazette columnist Todd Dorman will file updates through the day on his blog, 24-hour Dorman, which can be found at TheGazette.com. We'll have a link to it Saturday from IowaCaucus.com.

-- Reporter Patrick Hogan is to provide multimedia reports on IowaCaucus.com and also via social media such as Twitter. His coverage plans call for live reporting, with video, interviews with participants and general scene-setting reports.

-- Photographer Liz Martin will be there to capture images from this huge event.

Along with the live coverage on Saturday, The Gazette will have analyses, recaps and photos in the Sunday, Aug. 14, printed edition.

Of course, the value of this event isn't tied all that much into the straw poll's results. Its main purpose is as a fundraiser. The poll probably won't predict who the party's 2012 presidential nominee will be – or even the winner when Republicans caucus in Iowa next winter.

But the Ames straw poll generates interest in an otherwise slow news period and it gives Republicans a chance to focus on one place as they hone their attempt to unseat President Barack Obama.

IowaCaucus.com coverage leading up to Feb. 6

 (or whatever day it may end up being)

IowaCaucus.com has been set up to provide a collection of all the presidential campaign news being reported by Gazette reporters but also other news outlets in the nation. Additionally, it features blogs by two political experts we recruited for some insight – Republican Robert Haus and Democrat John Hedgecoth.

Haus, vice president of public affairs for PolicyWorks LLC in Des Moines, has worked for and has advised Republican candidates for offices ranging from the Iowa Legislature to U.S. president. Hedgecoth, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, has been a senior adviser and speechwriter for former Gov. Chet Culver, a deputy secretary of state for Iowa and a policy director on two statewide campaigns.