Where former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson immediately throw in the towel after landing 6th place in the Iowa straw poll, Senator John McCain from Arizona appeared to be undisturbed after he landed 10th place in the final counting of the straw votes. McCain called the results of the straw poll as meaningless and does not really have any bearing on the final outcome of the nomination.
During his talk with the members of Columbia Rotary Club, McCain said he never really expected to get many votes in the Iowa straw poll. In fact, he expected to get zero but was pleasantly surprised when he ended up with 101 votes. Asked to comment on why he was not really disturbed by the results of the straw poll, McCain explained that such exercise is meaningless. He said he never really engaged in straw poll in South Carolina or New Hampshire or anywhere else for that matter. He believes that aside from raining funds for the party, the straw poll does not really have any relevant purpose at all.
Rotary Club president Jack Van Loan said he was not really surprised at the reaction of McCain over the result of the straw poll in Iowa. He recalled that he and McCain both spent time in Vietnam as Prisoners of War (POW) and he had always admired McCain's courage. Though badly hurt, Van Loan said he always hear McCain yelling to the Vietnamese officers that he wasn't going home no matter how badly they treated him. He said that when it comes to courage in facing adversity, McCain simply has “courage in spades.”
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