Romney has won Iowa already

If two of the big three and possibly Fred Thompson are ditching the Ames straw poll, then they have all about put up the white flag to the Mitt-ster. So much for calling Democrats surrender monkeys. (H/T Political Wire)

Just hours after Rudy Giuliani announced he would skip the Ames Straw poll in Iowa later this summer, the AP reports Sen. John McCain "quickly followed suit in bypassing the early test of strength."

McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson: "It's clear that the Ames straw poll will not be a meaningful test of the leading candidates' organizational abilities... We have decided to forgo our participation in the event."

In case you forgot, Terry Nelson was deeply involved (and an unindicted co-conspirator) in destroying NH union and Democratic phone banks in 2002 to make sure that John Sununu would be elected to the US Senate.