DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The withdrawal of two top Republican presidential hopefuls from the GOP straw poll in August could send ripples through the state’s political climate for years to come, strategists said Thursday.

The decision by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain to skip the straw poll also means the event will likely lose much of its luster.

“I think it is obviously considerably diminished,” said former Iowa Republican Chairman Michael Mahaffey, of Montezuma. “I think the Iowa Republican Party was banking on this being a very profitable day for the party. It’s not going to be as profitable a day.”

The straw poll, at Iowa State University in Ames, has been held in every competitive presidential cycle since 1979. Candidates have devoted millions of dollars and intense organizational efforts to the event, a dress rehearsal for the Iowa caucuses.

State Senate Republican Leader Mary Lundby, of Marion, said a compressed primary schedule with many states moving their contests to Feb. 5 _ less than a month after the Iowa caucuses _ prompted the decisions, which were announced Wednesday.

“Because so many states have moved up primaries to the Feb. 5 date, it gets much more difficult for candidates to expend dollars on events that don’t have much influence on those primaries,” Lundby said.

Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford said the move is likely an effort by Giuliani and McCain to begin looking past Iowa.

While both candidates say they will compete in the caucuses, skipping the straw poll clearly lowers their emphasis on Iowa, Goldford said.

“It appears their strategy is based on doing well enough in Iowa to continue beyond Iowa,” he said. “They’re not giving up on the caucuses _ they are helping to prepare an explanation if they don’t do too well in the caucuses.”

The poll’s diminished significance could have a long-term effect on Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process as GOP leaders begin debating the calendar for the next election cycle, said Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party.

“We’re working to keep Iowa first, and this straw poll was going to be a large component of this keeping Iowa first in the nation,” he said. “I think we’ve got to work a little harder now.”

House Republican Leader Chris Rants, a supporter of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, said the perception is that McCain and Giuliani opted out of the straw poll because they have problems with the conservative Republican base.

Their decisions sends a signal that they are unwilling to court those voters, said Rants, of Sioux City.

“Republicans lose because we’ve got a national front-runner who doesn’t want to have to court conservative voters here in Iowa,” he said.

While Romney insists he will compete in the straw poll, the impact of that is unclear.

“The rumor was that he was going to buy it,” Lundby said. “Now he’s going to buy something that doesn’t have very much significance.”

One thing is clear, the event will carry much less glitz than in past years, Lundby said.

In previous years, thousands of activists and reporters descended on the straw poll with cable networks broadcasting it live to the world. That is unlikely this year.

The changes likely aren’t over as other candidates assess their participation in the straw poll.

“We’re still evaluating the situation,” said Eric Woolson, a spokesman for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Iowa campaign.

Campaign officials for former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore announced on Thursday that he will not participate in the straw poll, opting to better utilize his resources by focusing on the caucuses in January.

“Unfortunately, the results of the August Iowa straw poll are going to be determined solely by which candidate is willing to spend the most money and will have little to do with the candidate’s conservative appeal to Republican voters,” Gilmore said in a statement.