rockingham county, virginia. the two birds right now, luke, are apparently staying at the w hotel. not too bad. after they are pardoned today they will head to george washington s mt. vernon estate and garden. pretty nice life. this is a tradition that initially it was thought dated back to harry truman back in 1947. now, according to our nbc political team, truman did receive a bird but we think he may have eaten that turkey. we think that j fk was actually the first president to actually pardon a turkey back in 1963. luke? well, and i know of many turkeys who get bottle service at the w so it s an appropriate place. thank you for joining us. for 33 years republican presidential contenders have flocked to ames, iowa, to eat food on a stick and participate in a campaign ritual, the iowa straw poll. but now the state s republican
governor says the tradition has outlived its usefulness. just as a whole crop of 2016 wannabes are making their presidential ambitions known. nbc s deputy political editor dominick montenaro. the turkey pardon, jfk was the first president to save the birds, correct? well, he s the first one to pardon a thanksgiving turkey. lincoln is actually the first one to pardon a turkey in general. and that was a christmas turkey given to him to be eaten but his son took a liking to it, so they decided to keep him around. look at that. another abe lincoln story. abe lincoln is so hot right now in the news. let s talk a little bit about 2016. which we are all gearing towards now. iowa governor terry branstad said i think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness.