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* 1:15 pm - Um… Not exactly anything to report from GOP Day. Everyone got along and the crowd wasn’t bad considering the weather. I may have straw poll details later.

* 4:30 pm - Romney, who bused a ton of people in, won the IL GOP straw poll with Fred Thompson, who had nobody here, in second. Ron Paul, who had a bunch of young supporter here, placed third. Giuliani was 4th, and McCain was 5th
.
Percents…

Romney 40
Thompson 20
Paul 19
Rudy 11
McCain 4
Huckabee 3

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 1:16 pm

Comments

may have????

Comment by bored now Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 1:40 pm
I walked by the Director’s tent area (where the D vs R activity is) yesterday and today, and the differences are striking: hot/dry vs cool/wet; loud amplfied speakaing spilling out onto 8th Street vs relatively quiet on the street (for the fairgronds); rows of buses parked nearby vs no buses in sight; throngs of kids and others in brand new T-shirts vs mostly adults in a variety of shirts; lots of coordinators, handlers, and obvious paid help vs regular people figuring it out themselves.

Just some observations.

Comment by Passerby Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 1:54 pm
I noticed that Ron Paul supporters are as crazy as he is.

Comment by scoot Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 3:20 pm
Pizza on the stick is horrible

Comment by 6'2" Yeti Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 3:21 pm
Finally… a slow news day!

Comment by PJ Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 3:34 pm
This Calm and Relaxing, if not uneventful day has been brought to you by the Illinois Republican Party. Enjoy Republican Day at the State Fair.
Tomorrow we return to the frenzy of partisan politics with the unveiling of the amen. vetoed budget bill and the beginning of the endgames. Rest well the best is yet to unfold.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 4:07 pm
There were a couple pretty obnoxious vols for Ron Paul, but I also recall how obnoxious the McCarthy people were in 1968…Ah, youth and the first foray into a political campaign.

Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 4:28 pm
Who the heck would bother making pizza on a stick? It’s pizza! You don’t need a stick!

“Gee, this pizza in a cup sure is a whole lot better than the old pizza in a cup.”

Comment by Napoleon has left the building Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 4:41 pm
Romney at 40.4 and Thompson at 19.96, thats really not a close second for Thompson.

Comment by Central IL GOPer Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 4:54 pm
See, we even had to import some excitement, well some buzz at least. We may be boring but we sure can govern! And every once in a while we throw in some scandal to wake everybody up. Ahhh, the good old days.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:07 pm
I don’t understand the appeal for Paul. These straw polls are always pretty useless. If the IL primary were held today, I suspect Rudy would win. That, of course, could be shaken up following Iowa, NH, and whatever else happens in the mean time. Anyone have IL GOP Presidential polling numbers?

Comment by Drew Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:08 pm
We’re in the midst of the NFL preseason and straw poll season, so it’s worth noting that in last year’s preseason, the top teams were Carolina, Cincinnati, and the Giants, all of whom ended up finishing 8-8 (the Giants made the playoffs and lost in the first round). Moral of the story: preseason, like straw polls, doesn’t mean all that much in January and February, when it really matters.

Comment by Gus Frerotte's Clipboard Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:11 pm
sounds like big win for mitt and daniel rutherford.this should put daniel in the drivers seat for gov 2010.

Comment by independant thinker Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:33 pm
One question. Just what kind of name is “Mitt?” Is it short for something?

It’s a great name for a politician. Short, different and easy to remember. Ya got to give him 10% of the vote just because people will recognize the name.

Comment by Papa Legba Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:35 pm
i really am more interested in the votes cast rather than the %- probably miniscule numbers-anyone know

Comment by john j Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:40 pm
The Ron Paul people were loud, but it’s great to see a bunch of younger people involved in GOP politics. The establishment can scoff at them all they want, but they were there en force and made their presence known. And Ron Paul is not a kook. If you believe in traditional Republican philosophy, his ideals are closely aligned with the party of old.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:41 pm
John J - about 920

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 5:41 pm
I wonder how successful this straw poll was and hopefully they’ll do this every year or every presidential election.

Comment by Levois Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 6:23 pm
Was Ray LaHood already running for Governor?
Would not he be leaving a big Republican mess in DC for a soon to be corrected mess in Springfield once Blago is gone.

Comment by keepin up with jones Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 6:34 pm
I think it is interesting that Thompson was the choice of the party leaders and came in second in the straw poll. Romney was obvioulsy going to win b/c he sent people, but Thompson didn’t have any “plants” as far as we know. I’m not sure of statewide polls for the Repub nomination but it certainly seems to be at least a sign for Thompson as far as Illinois goes. And, since we moved our primary up and are now one of the “early” states, it seems Thompson could be looking at a sizeable haul for votes for the convention if he were to enter the race and possibly win Illinois.

Comment by RJW Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 7:46 pm
who ever said it wasn’t a close second for thompson….think again. here’s a guy, non-declared at this point, though formidable & placing 2nd in the poll “ain’t” bad considering he had no-one there except regular people & rommney with his bus entorage’or at the very least imported. where next??, rommney crew next stop iowa or some other fair where they can stuff the ballot box. thompson is gaining steam & the faxct he’s ahead of the other known & in-the game” candidates ought to say something i’d think. factor out the “professional pollers” & it’s more like 25% rommney & 20% thompson.

Comment by annon Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 8:06 pm
Mitt is a family name; his relative played for the Bears.

All of the IL Republicans that I know are supporting him because, they say, he is a “uniter.” They view his election in Democratic Massachusetts as a sign that he can win nationally.

I’ve had some very bizarre conversations trying to understand why getting elected under one set of positions translates to a national election under the opposite. I’ve been told that the social issues that are important in Mass. are not relevant to the national election.

And yes, they are quite serious.

Comment by RBD Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 9:01 pm
This has to be the least talked about State Fair Republican Day ever on this blog. God save the GOP. I see no future.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 9:30 pm
Thompson will take the nomination in a cake walk. He hasn’t even declared, he can raise more money from others (i.e.- he doesn’t have to self fund), and the millions of people out in middle America will only remember that they saw him on Law & Order. He has the “it”, as does Obama- and it should be an entertaining two years.

Comment by Roy Slade Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 10:11 pm
I believe Bill Brady had brought in people to vote for Fred Thompson.

When I went to the event, I thought this was going to be a win for Giuliani, but Dan Rutherford really put together a great effort for Mitt Romney, who is becoming more plausible of a nominee with every passing week.

The Ron Paul folks were basically making fools out of themselves, harrasing people all around the fairgrounds too. I spoke with some of them, and they indicated that no other GOP candidate is acceptable and they will vote Libertarian if Paul is not the GOP nominee. Something tells me that the vast majority of them have not voted Republican before anyway.

Comment by Establishment Republican Thursday, Aug 16, 07 @ 10:51 pm
maybe the case for brady lining up some folks to come…..but not a bus load. i think thompson has genuine appeal, despite his tv and acting. he was a us senator and no stranger to politics over the last 30 years. the guys got to make a living somehow i guess.

Comment by annon Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 5:03 am
SJ-R reports that there were “10 busloads of Romney supporters” brought in”. Minimum 300 people. 40% of 920 votes is 368. Remove the 300 “artificial voters” from the equation and you have 68 votes or 11% of the total (figuring 620 total votes). Maybe Mitt’s not as strong as he appears without his “entourage”??

Comment by ABolt243 Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 7:41 am
The interesting thing is Huckabee. He got no bounce from Iowa, and it shows that where he doesn’t campaign heavily, nobody likes him.

(Which of course might also say that where he does campaign heavily, people do like him).

Romney is interesting for reasons stated by Sen. Reid: He has been hunting fewer times than Guiliani has been married.

Comment by Skeeter Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 8:34 am
“Straw poll” -
Does that refer to what they were smoking?

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 8:46 am
In the voice of Homer Simpson: “BORING.”

Comment by Anon Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 8:53 am
Seriously, Skeeter. Playing devil’s advocate using “marriage” within the context of Rudy and Mitt? OK. I’ll bite.

Assuming the Rs don’t gang up on Mitt and he makes it through the Primary, the Ds will take him down. Bottom line: most women will NOT feel comfortable voting for Romney.

Comment by Annonymous Friday, Aug 17, 07 @ 7:10 pm