Bachmann wins Iowa straw poll: "Deadhead" Ron Paul second

Near Menlo, Iowa, 2010

Michele Bachmann won today's Ames Republican Straw Poll in Iowa with 29 percent of the vote; Ron Paul was second with 28 percent.

Clearly this is a huge victory for the Minnesotan. As for Ron Paul, who typically does well in straw polls and caucuses, it won't mean much. The Texas congressman reminds me of the Grateful Dead--he's able to attract a devoted following, but overall Paul is not such a big deal. Despite the massive crowds drawn to their concerts, the Dead only managed to garner one Billboard Top 10 album and Top 10 single in their three decades long career. Paul won't win any Republican primaries and he will not be the GOP nominee for president or vice president. He's big enough to notice but not significant enough to win.

Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third. Rick Santorum placed fourth, Herman Cain fifth, and Thad McCotter received just 35 votes. Some candidates officially entered the straw poll, although several received write-ins. Other hopefuls, such as Mitt Romney, were on the ballot but did not participate in the straw poll process.

As for Pawlenty, he was hoping do do better. I hope he stays in the race. He issued this statement early this evening:

Congratulations to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann for her victory in today's straw poll. We made progress in moving from the back of the pack into a competitive position for the caucuses, but we have a lot more work to do. This is a long process to restore America -- we are just beginning and I'm looking forward to a great campaign.

Bachmann is definitely a top-tier candidate.

As for Paul, no one over confused the Grateful Dead with the Beatles or Rolling Stones.

I'll leave the final words to Donald Trump, who said this at CPAC in February: "Ron Paul cannot get elected, I'm sorry my folks."

Related posts:

Donald Trump wows crowd at CPAC

Marathon Pundit's Iowa I Opener

Technorati tags: iowa politics Republican gop ron paul iowa caucuses iowa politics news minnesota minnesota politics tea party news conservative michele bachmann herman cain elections 2012 Tim Pawlenty donald trump