[Antoninus]

..DH just finished 9th—but we’re not finished yet...

If you know how the Ames straw poll works--all you need is to be over the age of 18 and buy a ticket to attend (you don't even have to be an Iowa resident, I don't think)--you'll realize that it only means that Mitt Romney was able to buy more tickets for his people than anyone else.

[Calpernia]

Romney spent $3 million on that Straw Poll.

[JCEccles]

Yeah, that’s all it means. Move along. Nothing to see here.

[deport]

1. Gov Mitt Romney 4516 votes 31%.

2. Gov. Mike Huckabee 2587 votes 18.1%

3. Sen. Sam Brownback 2192 votes 15.3%

4. Tom Tancredo 1961 votes 13.7%

5. Ron Paul 1305 votes 9.1%

6. Tommy Thompson 1,009 votes 7.3%

7. Fred Thomson 231 votes

8. Rudy Giuliani 183 votes

9. Duncan Hunter 174 votes

10. John McCain 101 votes

11. John Cox 41 votes

Iowa state auditor David Vaudt unofficially certified the results.

14,203 ballots were cast.

[iowamark]

If you know how the Ames straw poll works--all you need is to be over the age of 18 and buy a ticket to attend (you don't even have to be an Iowa resident, I don't think)--you'll realize that it only means that Mitt Romney was able to buy more tickets for his people than anyone else.

Incorrect, you had to be an Iowan to vote. Also, nobody can really buy votes when there is a secret ballot. None of those providing free tickets could control how the people would vote once they were in the booth.

If you want to know how Romney turned out four thousand voters, ask yourself what tightly organized group he belongs to. (not a criticism of that group, I admire their organization)