Republicans Make Romney Their Iowa Strawman

Iowa's Republicans met in Ames to conduct a large fundraiser, aka "strawpoll." To no one's surprise, Mitt Romney walked away as "the champeen." Of course if Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee would consider a civil union, they would have beat him.

In true missionary-style, Romney's crew herded "Mittens" onto buses and brought them to the strawpoll. With the sterling competition, it is easy to see why this Romney did better than his Dad, the other "George W."--George W. Romney.

Note: the Thompson Twins were six and seven, but note the order. Ron Paul-- please run as a Libertarian in November, your party needs you.

Candidate	Votes	Pct.
1. Mitt Romney	4,516	31.6%
2. Mike Huckabee	2,587	18.1%
3. Sam Brownback	2,192	15.3%
4. Tom Tancredo	1,960	13.7%
5. Ron Paul	1,305	9.1%
6. Tommy Thompson	1,039	7.3%
7. Fred Thompson	203	1.4%
8. Rudy Giuliani*	183	1.3%
9. Duncan Hunter	174	1.2%
10. John McCain*	101	0.7%
11. John Cox	41	0.3%
*Did not attend

David Yepsen, no stranger to hyperbole, indicates that the Republicans "look past Bush" to endorse change--given that Bush is wildly unpopular even within his party, change is the only thing they can embrace.

And with only 14,302 people voted in the poll, far fewer than the 23,685 who cast ballots in the last big straw poll in 1999, it may be too soon to crown anyone as "the frontrunner," particularly when the heavy hitter for the party was a.w.o.l.--no, not you John McCain.