Iowa straw poll results

Mitt Romney won 1st place, while Mike Huckabee finished in 2nd. Romney is, of course, pleased. Guess his inability to flip pork chops on a grill at the Iowa State Fair didn't hurt him after all ;)

The 2nd place showing is good news for the Huckabee campaign, considering how he has really gone nowhere in the polls since he first declared his candidacy.

As to what this translates into long term for Huckabee remains to be seen, but it's welcome news and a moral boost in any event, as Huckabee had said that he was going to base his campaign's future on how well he did in Ames.

Tommy Thompson, according to that same Des Moines Register article, may declare he's out of the race as soon as Sunday, considering he finished in 6th in Ames. He had wanted to finish in at least 2nd.

One more thing: The voting results initially were delayed due to voting machine malfunctions. Brian at Iowa Voice reports in his lengthy, often-updated post that the Ron Pauliacs are going nuts over this development.

Stay tuned ...

Update: Speaking of Ron Paul, best wishes for his wife to get better soon. She was hospitalized earlier today in Des Moines due to an irregular heartbeat.