Speaking of straw polls...

Here's a random find from the Maricopa County, Arizona GOP.

From Sonoran Alliance:

On Saturday, January 13th at the Maricopa County Republican meeting, a straw poll was conducted on the 2008 Presidential candidates and the reasons why the Republican faithful thought we lost the election last November. Here are those results:

458 Ballots cast

First Choice for Presidential Candidate:
1	Hunter	96
2	Romney	82
3	Gingrich	53
4	McCain	50
5	Rice	27
6	Tancredo	24
7	Giuliani	22
8	Brownback	14
9	Huckabee	10
10	Hagel	2
11	Barbour	1
12	Pataki	0

Unacceptable Presidential Candidates:
1	McCain	282
2	Hagel	272
3	Pataki	260
4	Giuliani	213
5	Barbour	113
6	Brownback	108
6	Huckabee	108
7	Rice	91
8	Tancredo	85
9	Gingrich	81
10	Hunter	71
11	Romney	65

Acceptable Presidential Candidates:
1	Rice	269
2	Gingrich	265
3	Romney	239
4	Tancredo	219
5	Barbour	182
6	Brownback	178
7	Huckabee	167
7	Hunter	167
8	Giuliani	157
9	McCain	89
10	Pataki	70
11	Hagel	28

Republicans lost last November because:
Primary Reason	Iraq	136
Secondary Reason	Spending	115
Tertiary Reason	Too Lenient on Immigration	94

----

It's interesting to note the strong opposition to McCain in this poll. While this, again, is early and it is hardly indicative of Republicans on a national level, it is interesting to note McCain's unpopularity amongst this segment of Arizona Republicans. George Pataki's finishing with 0 first-place votes and a high amount of unacceptability votes also makes known the dislike of the idea of a liberal northeast Republican running for President amongst this segment of the voting public. The same may also be said for Rudy Giuliani, though he did finish with 22 first-place votes.

I find it also interesting to note that Mitt Romney was the least unfavorable amongst this group. Given the "hype" that the media has given him because of his religion, I would have expected his performance in this poll to be much worse. I really think that his religion will become less of an issue and that other Republicans and Democrats can't count on stirring up some pathetic attack on his faith.

Another interesting note: Condi Rice finishes first amongst acceptable candidates, has a low unacceptability factor, and finishes in the middle of the pack overall. If this is a local or a national trend, I don't know, but it's something worth looking at.

(About the Sonoran Alliance, from their about page: We are an Alliance of Political Writers and Activists Dedicated to Promoting Conservative Thought and Principles in the Sonoran Southwest.)

-rsl