McCain follows Giuliani, will skip Iowa straw poll

Hours after former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) announced that he would skip the Iowa straw poll, the campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that it would follow suit.

{mosads}“In light of today’s news, it is clear that the Ames Straw Poll will not be a meaningful test of the leading candidates’ organizational abilities, so we have decided to forego our participation in the event,” said McCain’s campaign manager Terry Nelson.

Nelson pointed out that McCain has built a solid organization in Iowa and “intends to win the state’s caucuses.”

Giuliani’s camp had announced earlier that the current GOP frontrunner would skip the August straw poll to focus resources on the January caucuses.