Mitt Romney's decision to bow out of the Florida presidential straw poll known as "Presidency 5" is being taken personally by a lot of political bloggers on both sides of the aisle in the Sunshine State.
But should they take it so strongly? A spokesman for the the candidate who rides as the early front runner in some GOP polls (including one national poll that shows him besting President Obama in a would be one-on-one matchup), says Romney is also blowing off the way overhyped Iowa straw poll conducted later this summer, and any other such unofficial contest:
"Our campaign has made the decision to not participate in any straw polls, whether it’s in Florida, Iowa, Michigan or someplace else. We respect the straw poll process. In the last presidential campaign we were both strengthened as an organization and learned some important lessons by participating in them. This time we will focus our energies and resources on winning primaries and caucuses. We look forward to bringing Mitt Romney’s strong pro-jobs message to every part of the country.”
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.