That's Fred, not Tommy
Out of 114 votes cast at this year's convention of the California Republican Assembly, former Sen. Fred Thompson led all other real or potential candidates in 2008 with 28 votes, followed by Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Duncan Hunter of California with 22 apiece. Libertarian Republican Ron Paul of Texas was next with 14 and Tom Tancredo of Colorado followed with nine. Rudy Guiliani received eight votes and John McCain none. Apparently, Thompson is benefitting from a relative lack of enthusiasm for the leading candidates, while Hunter and Paul were present at the convention of the California Republican Assembly and Tancredo is admired in the CRA for his anti-illegal immigration stand. A former CRA president made an impassioned plea for Guiliani as the best man to fight the war on Islamism, and a Romney supporter touted his man's credentials. Straw poll is the right name for this sort of vote inasmuch it serves as a "straw in the wind" though it is not definitive. After all, it is still nine months before the California presidential primary. As the largest volunteer political group in the State, the CRA's endorsement, scheduled for determination in November, will carry weight. However, the two-thirds vote required may make it difficult for any candidate to win it.