[The Pack Knight]

I'm in favor of the FairTax, but I have to agree. The video with Fred Thompson was pretty embarrassing, as is AFT's continued citation of it as "proof" that Fred Thompson is in favor of the FairTax.

I will say that the FairTax probably did have something to do with the strong showings by Huckabee and Tancredo, as, from what I hear, the FairTax people had a strong presence at Ames. I don't think the FairTax cost Romney any votes, and FairTax opponents (Romney, Brownback, Giuliani) did receive more votes in aggregate than did FairTax proponents (Huckabee, Tancredo, Hunter, Tommy Thompson). McCain and Fred Thompson are ambiguous on the issue, and Paul doesn't really fit, since he's opposed to nearly all federal taxation.

[Your Nightmare]

I will say that the FairTax probably did have something to do with the strong showings by Huckabee and Tancredo

I would say the absence of Giuliani, McCain, and Thompson had more to do with there strong showings.

The Iowa Straw Poll is a joke. The result are totally irrelevant. The fact that FairTax.org is pimping these results (Huckabee got 2,587 votes – whoop-de-frickin-doo) is way too typical of them. They aren't a serious organization.