WisPolitics straw poll round-up

You can find the results for the WisPolitics.com straw poll here.

Or, you can read them here.

2006 STRAW POLL QUESTIONS, RESULTS
357 total ballots cast

**Who is your choice in the GOP primary for attorney general?
_ Paul Bucher, 88 votes
_ JB Van Hollen, 228 votes
No response, 41

**Who is your choice to run against Herb Kohl for the U.S. Senate?
_ Marc Gumz, 3
_ Robert Gerald Lorge, 20
_ Tim Michels, 76
_ Dave Redick, 2
_ Tommy Thompson, 241
_ Write In, 6
No response, 9

**Which possible 2008 presidential candidate do you currently favor?
_ George Allen, 61
_ Sam Brownback, 11
_ Bill Frist, 8
_ Newt Gingrich, 53
_ Rudy Giuliani, 60
_ Chuck Hagel, 1
_ Mike Huckabee, 2
_ John McCain, 37
_ George Pataki, 4
_ Condi Rice, 50
_ Mitt Romney, 40
_ Tom Tancredo, 8
_ Write In, 7
No response, 15

Here are the Presidential results in order, top to bottom.

_ George Allen, 61
_ Rudy Giuliani, 60
_ Newt Gingrich, 53
_ Condi Rice, 50
_ Mitt Romney, 40
_ John McCain, 37
No response, 15
_ Sam Brownback, 11
_ Bill Frist, 8
_ Tom Tancredo, 8
_ Write In, 7
_ George Pataki, 4
_ Mike Huckabee, 2
_ Chuck Hagel, 1

Frankly, they're downright disappointing. The options are just bad. Allen is a good guy, but a Senator can't win. Giuliani is no conservative. Gingrich can't keep his personal life straight, even if I do think he's brilliant politically. Condi...she's not running (she won the straw poll last year). I've already talked about Romney, and he probably only did well because he had been slated to speak Friday night, so people researched him. McCain isn't much better (or worse) than Giuliani. Brownback is usually good, but went turncoat on immigration. Frist has done a pitiful job as the Senate majority leader, shows no true leadership, offers no real ideas and innovation, and seems to drift with the political winds. Tancredo was my pick, only because he's a reliable conservative who's been leading the charge on immigration literally for years, but he has no realistic chance, being that he's a Congressman (same boat as Allen, possibly even worse for a Congressman). Pataki is similar to Giuliani without at least having the same 9/11 leadership experience. Huckabee is the only governor other than Pataki, and seems to be a reliable conservative, but he's from Arkansas, and a Republican from Arkansas will likely be unable to win nationwide. That leaves Chuck Hagel, who (in addition to being a Senator) may be right on immigration, but is generally moderate.

Not good. Would Pawlenty please step up?!?

I thought this statement regarding the AG race was interesting.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin and attorney general candidates Paul Bucher and Van Hollen, in a letter to WisPolitics earlier in the week, requested that an AG question be excluded from the WisPolitics straw poll because of an agreement between the competing attorney general campaigns to discourage straw polls and a convention endorsement vote. The letter was distributed to convention-goers. WisPolitics.com declined the request.

Apparently there weren't too many people interested in boycotting the poll, considering the 316 votes in the AG race.

Personally, I feel strongly that they should have gone ahead with endorsement. I normally wouldn't say that. Normally I'd rather see things play out into a primary and let everyone in the party decide. However, our stupid September primary is so late that it becomes nearly impossible to run an effective campaign against an incumbent. I really don't want to see Bucher and Van Hollen rip each other apart. Bucher is a no-nonsense tough guy. Van Hollen is a personable nice guy. Both have excellent resumes that are very different. Both have very good arguments for being the better candidate. It's going to be a dogfight, and I don't want to see all of their resources gone for whoever wins the primary. Our saving grace is the fact that the Democrats have a primary too.