Some Brief Blogging Bullets

It's been a while since I last posted, so here are some "brief blogging bullets" to get up to date on a variety of issues.

• A week ago today, my wife and I were headed out of town for a friend's wedding and a last vacation before the baby arrives. We only made it about 20 miles down the road before the trip ended. Instead, I had emergency surgery on a ruptured appendix, and spent four days in the hospital. Feel like a total bum, with a 7½-month pregnant wife doing stuff for me that I'm banned from for now. I didn't expect to use Samaritan Ministries again so soon, but it's a relief knowing that my medical bills will be met.

• Former Texas Governor Rick Perry joined the presidential race on the GOP side (here's his announcement speech). Former Rhode Island senator (as Republican) and governor (as an Independent) Lincoln Chafee jumped in the Democrat primary (his speech), completing his political transformation.

• Speaking of new candidates, for a refresher, here's the "official" roster of (major) announced presidential hopefuls. There are still more waiting on the sidelines.
  
  

  Republicans (10)

• Ben Carson
• Ted Cruz
• Carly Fiorina
• Lindsey Graham
• Mike Huckabee
• George Pataki
• Rand Paul
• Rick Perry
• Marco Rubio
• Rick Santorum
  
  Democrats (4)
• Lincoln Chafee
• Hillary Clinton
• Martin O'Malley
• Bernie Sanders  

• Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee will both be making campaign stops in Oklahoma in the next week. Cruz is doing a lunch with the OKGOP on Saturday the 13th, while Huckabee will be doing two fundraisers, one in Tulsa on Wednesday the 17th, and in OKC on Thursday the 18th. Follow the links for ticket details.

• Over on Race42016.com, one of my favorite conservative sites on presidential politics, Matt Coulter has a post on the death of the Ames Straw Poll, and how the televised debate invitations will play the role of "winnowing the field" usually assumed by the infamous Iowa straw poll.

• The New York Times' published several hit pieces recently on GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio. They examined some of his and his wife's speeding tickets and traffic violations, financial debt, the purchase of a "luxury" speedboat (aka, a fairly average fishing boat), and his West Miami home. HotAir.com has a great post on it here, along with photos comparing Rubio's house with Hillary's, and his boat with John Kerry's.

• In Oklahoma political news, state senator Rick Brinkley (R-Owasso) is in a bunch of hot water. Formerly the president and COO of the Tulsa Better Business Bureau, he was fired in April, and the BBB alleges that he embezzled more than $1M in his fifteen years with the organization. Brinkley was well positioned to replace term-limited Senate Pro Temore Brian Bingman as the Senate's top official, but.... I don't think that's going to happen now. 

Bachmann wins at Ames

The Ames Straw Poll was held today at the Iowa State Fair in Ames, Iowa. While the Straw Poll doesn't always accurately predict the victor in the Iowa caucus, or the eventual GOP presidential nominee, it is the first big test for most campaigns, and poor finishes tend to cause some candidates to pull out of the running (this is especially true for second- or third-tier candidates).

So, without further ado, here are the results.

2011 Straw Poll Full Results (courtesy of the Iowa GOP)

1. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (4823, 28.55%)
2. Congressman Ron Paul (4671, 27.65%)
3. Governor Tim Pawlenty (2293, 13.57%)
4. Senator Rick Santorum (1657, 9.81%)
5. Herman Cain (1456, 8.62%)
6. Governor Rick Perry (718, 3.62%) write-in
7. Governor Mitt Romney (567, 3.36%)
8. Speaker Newt Gingrich (385, 2.28%)
9. Governor Jon Huntsman (69, 0.41%)
10. Congressman Thad McCotter (35, 0.21%)
    Miscellaneous (162, 0.96 %) Includes all those receiving votes at less than 1% that were not on the ballot.

Romney, Gingrich and Huntsman skipped the Straw Poll, and thus their numbers were expected to be low in the first place. Rick Perry only announced his candidacy today, and thus was not included on the actual ballot; his votes came as write-ins.

Adam Graham at Race42012.com has a must-read summary on the winners and losers, which I completely agree with. This probably dealt a major blow to the Pawlenty, Santorum and Cain campaigns, but I think especially so to Pawlenty, who had so much resting on a good finish at Ames.

Don't be surprised if a few of these candidates begin to drop out.