Romney draws longest straw at poll
SPRINGFIELD -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the first-ever Illinois Republican Party presidential straw poll Thursday, an event designed more to spur interest in the moribund Illinois GOP than give any real boost to the White House hopefuls.
Romney received 40 percent of the vote to easily outdistance runner-up Fred Thompson's 20 percent showing. Texas Congressman Ron Paul was third with nearly 19 percent.
But the Romney win needs to be put into perspective. Only 922 votes were cast at the free event put on the by Illinois Republican Party. Iowa's Republican straw poll last weekend brought out 14,000 voters, who paid for the right to participate in the popularity contest. Romney also won the Iowa event.
None of the candidates on the Illinois ballot showed up here and, other than bragging rights, nothing was at stake.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna, however, was clearly pleased as dozens of supporters from various campaigns tried to out shout each other as the event drew to a close.
"We typically get 200 people to this thing," McKenna said of past Republican Day rallies at the Illinois State Fair.
Indeed, following the scandalous demise of Republican Gov. George Ryan and repeated political losses across the state, Republican leaders were ready to try something new in hopes of returning a political pulse to the party.
Enter the straw poll -- essentially a political popularity contest.
Romney's victory was not overly surprising. State Sen. Dan Rutherford, a Pontiac-area Republican, was in charge of the operation. He said people were being bused in from across the state.
"I think it was a strong showing of our organization support," said Craig Romney, the candidate's son.
Other campaigns chose not to do that. State. Rep. Tom Cross, the Illinois House Republican leader from Oswego, is the chairman of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign. He recently told reporters he did not plan to bus in supporters or otherwise try to manipulate the outcome. On Thursday, Cross downplayed the event's significance in the 2008 presidential race.
"I think this straw poll, and I applaud Andy for doing it, but I think without the candidates here, it doesn't have the same meaning or the same significance like you saw in Iowa. But it's a starting point," he said.
Perhaps the most surprising development of the day was Congressman Paul's enthusiastic following and third-place finish. Dozens of Paul supporters marched through the Illinois State Fairgrounds passing out literature and recruiting people to go vote for him.
Thomas Pater, 31, of Monee, and Brian Pater, 27 of Alsip, said they had come to spend the day at the fair but had no plans to participate in the straw poll. But Paul supporters gave them some campaign information and, "We liked what we saw," Thomas Pater said.
Ken Prazak, a 55-year-old Paul volunteer from the Elgin area, called the third-place showing satisfying.
"I think it's a great victory. We own the fair today," Prazak said. "I've been involved in libertarian politics all of my adult life. This is probably the most fun I've ever had."