Money may be key to a straw poll victory. Not only do candidates have to spend to get their message out around the state, they also usually end up picking up the $35 ticket price for voters attending the straw poll. In addition, most campaigns also provide transportation to voters from around the state to the central Iowa college town as well as food and entertainment once they arrive.

Another candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said he was committed to staying in the race at least through the South Carolina primary. Romney is seen as vulnerable in South Carolina, where he faces opposition from some evangelical Christians who are uncomfortable with his Mormon faith.

Huckabee said he expected to do well in the straw poll despite being significantly outspent by Romney. "You know, David went up against Goliath with overwhelming odds against him, and he did all right," Huckabee told the Deseret Morning News before speaking at the fair.

Huckabee's Iowa state chairman, Bob Vander Plaats, said it's Romney who needs to win, and win big. "Romney's got to place No. 1," Vander Plaats said.

Pundits have said Huckabee, Thompson and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback are expected to be the most competitive of the candidates who'll be at the straw poll in person. The other contenders are Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, Illinois businessman John Cox, California Rep. Duncan Hunter and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Romney attracted bigger crowds and more media attention than other candidates during his stop at the fair. Iowa's largest event, the fair brings more than a million people to the capital city each year to see champion livestock and sample a variety of treats, including pork chops on a stick and deep-fried Twinkies.

The former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City barely had room to move during a photo opportunity manning a barbecue at the Iowa Pork Producers tent. Next, he headed through an exhibit of baby animals, including newborn lambs, chicks and piglets, with his children and grandchildren in tow.

"Right now, Romney's my favorite," said Paula Seward, a New Providence farmer, after Romney stopped to chat with her about hog prices. But Seward said she'll be at the fair today, not at the straw poll.

Plenty of Romney family members will be around for the straw poll, though, but as volunteers, not voters. More than 100 of both Mitt and Ann Romney's extended families are gathered in Ames to do everything from calling straw poll voters to driving them around the coliseum area in a golf cart.

"I'm not politically oriented," Leonard Romney said. But the Salt Lake City resident said he couldn't pass up the opportunity to help his cousin. "It's a great experience."

Mitt Romney's nephew, Tim Robinson of Alpine, brought his wife and five young children along to volunteer. Robinson, who helped Romney with "Turnaround," his book about the Olympics, said, "It does say a lot about Mitt that the people who know him best support him."

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