Iowa straw poll goes on without biggest 2008 stars

AMES, Iowa, Aug 10 (Reuters) It's showtime for Mitt Romney and a handful of Republican second-tier 2008 hopefuls tomorrow when the Iowa straw poll offers an early test of strength featuring plenty of drama but missing its top stars.

Three of the top four Republican candidates -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson -- will skip the nonbinding mock election that traditionally thins the field of candidates and gives the winner at least a temporary shot of momentum.

Giuliani and McCain, trailing Romney in most Iowa state polls, decided to save their money to compete in Iowa's nominating contest, which kicks off the race to the November 2008 election. Thompson has not formally declared his candidacy.

Their absence puts more pressure on Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, as the lone top-tier contender to roll up a big margin of victory, not just win the symbolic vote, open to any Iowa resident willing to show up and allow a candidate to buy them a 35 dollars ticket.

It also gives lesser-known Republicans -- Sen Sam Brownback, former Govs. Mike Huckabee and Tommy Thompson and Reps. Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo -- a chance to steal the spotlight.

The biggest losers could face an early campaign finish.

''The straw poll is a big test and a stressful day. Some make it through and some get out,'' said Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party. ''They aren't all going to make it to January and they never were.'' The daylong event, a fundraiser for the state party, creates a carnival atmosphere around Iowa State University's basketball arena as candidates entice supporters with big-tent entertainment, free food and old-fashioned speeches.

Any Iowa resident over age 18 can participate, and party officials expect about 40,000 to cast ballots. Since its modest start in 1979, no candidate has won Iowa's early nominating contest without finishing in the straw poll's top two.

George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, started his road to the White House in 1999 with a straw poll victory in Ames.

Within weeks of the poll, four lagging Republican candidates dropped out of the race.

ROMNEY NEEDS BIG WIN Romney, who trails Giuliani in national polls, needs a big win to validate his strategy of concentrating on the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire in hopes they will catapult him into the later primaries with momentum.

His advisers play down expectations but say the straw poll is a dry run for the organization needed on caucus night.

''We're testing his message and appeal. We're also testing the ability to identify people and get them to turn out and do something that is not easy to get people to do,'' said David Kochel, a senior Romney adviser in Iowa.

The other candidates have been battling Romney for support from the Midwestern state's large bloc of social conservatives, and hope a second-place finish will put them in the spotlight.

Huckabee and Brownback, in particular, have attacked each other on a variety of issues and criticized Romney over his shifting position on abortion in an effort to get attention in advance of the poll.

The other way to get attention from voters is with entertainment and free food. Tancredo is hosting an ''Iowa Idol'' singing competition, with more than 2,000 dollars in prize money.

The decisions by Giuliani and McCain to skip the poll, widely seen as admissions they could not win, made it tougher for Romney in some ways, said Dennis Goldford, a political analyst at Drake University in Des Moines.

''Their absence makes a weak showing by Romney look even weaker, and a strong showing less meaningful,'' he said.

Giuliani told reporters in Iowa on Wednesday ''it was just a practical decision'' to skip the straw poll in order to focus on the caucuses.

''We didn't think we had the resources to do both and do it justice because we started somewhat later than just about all the other candidates,'' Giuliani said.

McCain's financially ailing campaign said the prize was not worth the cost of competing -- several million dollars at a minimum -- once Giuliani backed out.

''Does it build strength for the caucus? You bet. But the prize is greatly diminished now -- they can go ahead and have it,'' said Dave Roederer, McCain's Iowa campaign manager and the state manager for Bush in 2004.

REUTERS AK VC0955