Romney 1st, Huckabee Wins

The results are in. Taken from CNN

MITT ROMNEY 4,516 VOTES 31.6%
MIKE HUCKABEE 2,587 VOTES 18.1%
SAM BROWNBACK 2,192 VOTES 15.3%
TOM TANCREDO 1,961 VOTES 13.7%
RON PAUL 1,305 VOTES 9.1%
TOMMY THOMPSON 1,039 VOTES 7.3%
FRED THOMPSON 203 VOTES 1.4%
RUDY GIULIANI 183 VOTES 1.3%
DUNCAN HUNTER 174 VOTES 1.2%
JOHN MCCAIN 101 VOTES .7%
JOHN COX 41 VOTES .3%
14,302 TOTAL BALLOTS CAST


Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback are really no surprise, given the arsenal of people they had working. The candidates with the biggest presence were definitely Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, and Ron Paul. Judging from this, Mike Huckabee was the real winner. I don't even remember where his tent was. Was he the other candidate with the live band? I can't remember. He didn't have nearly as many college students swarming the entrance to the event giving out maps and telling how Ron Paul will get rid of the IRS, Sam Brownback will overturn Roe vs. Wade, and Mitt Romney will "secure our border". Huckabee's presence was really almost non-existent. Given the number of votes Romney, Brownback, and Paul effectively bought, the REAL winner of the Straw Poll was definitely Mike Huckabee.

In fact, I think John McCain and Rudy Giuliani deserve quite a bit of respect for their absence from this event.