Big day for Republican candidates

Today is the Iowa straw poll event that several Republican presidential candidates have wagered a great deal of money on as the first real chance to prove themselves worthy of election. It’s not another staged debate. The people will speak in this one, and after listening to the speeches and plans of the different candidates, they’ll tell us what they think of what they’re hearing. At the end of the day, the top contenders will emerge and the media may start paying more attention to candidates they’ve all but ignored until now.

Especially since Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain are not participating. It’s an interesting event, small as it seems. The Chicago Tribune has this online coverage that starts with a backgrounder, and promises continual ‘real time’ reporting as the day unfolds.

While the results have no direct effect on the selection of delegates to the Republicans’ national nominating convention next year in Minneapolis, a poor showing can spell the end of the campaign trail for lesser-known, lower-tier contenders while a decent showing can help a candidate remain viable for another day.

Media analysts expect Gov. Mitt Romney to win, partially because he has committed an overwheming amount of time and money to the Iowa event.

A Romney win would raise the inevitable expectations game of whether his level of support was sufficient, particularly as the party’s social conservatives debate his credentials as an opponent of abortion rights after previously supporting the procedure…

At the same time, the focus of the straw poll will turn to the other contenders such as Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor; Brownback, the Kansas senator; Reps. Tom Tancredo of California, Ron Paul of Texas and Duncan Hunter of California, and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

I’ve been wondering for a while why the media barely mention Sen. Sam Brownback, who I’ve interviewed a number of times and know to be a strong and moral leader committed to the issues and values a majority of Americans share.

Brownback is calling his area of the straw poll “an afternoon of prayer and celebration.” In addition to bands and barbecue, he’s featuring Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of the Roe vs. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that established a woman’s right to abortion and who has since become a foe of the procedure, as well as the brother of Terry Schiavo, who was at the center of a national right-to-die controversy in 2005.

Look at the reporting here. Norma McCorvey was the “Jane Roe” of that famous ruling, who has since been considered a foe of the abortion movement by its activist leaders who want to silence her and downplay her importance since she became pro-life and converted to the Catholic faith. And note how the reporting calls her a foe of the procedure, a generic term that deflects attention from the harsher reality of abortion. And…..Bobby Schindler is the tireless pro-life brother of Terry Schiavo, who was at the center of a national right-to-life battle when she was being starved and dehydrated to death by court order.

These are the causes Sen. Brownback has been championing, among others like defense of marriage, comprehensive immigration reform and global human rights. 

Brownback and Huckabee have been waging an intense, often below-the-radar struggle to win over churchgoing conservatives to attend the straw poll.

It wouldn’t have been below-the-radar if the media had paid more attention to these worthy candidates. 

 In seeking support, both men have questioned Romney’s conversion on abortion.

“There’s always that question for anybody, ‘Can they put together a national campaign and have relevance (and) motivate people to come out?'” Brownback said during a visit to a suburban Des Moines Roman Catholic bookstore.

“It’s really been the winnowing grounds and testing grounds for a lot of candidates,” he said. “Many enter into Iowa. Few come out.”

Besides the results of this significant day, it will be interesting to see how the media cover it.