memeorandum: Huckabee! — Ames results are as follows: — Mitt Romney 4516 votes (31.0%) (Patrick Ruffini/Townhall.com)

12:05 AM ET, August 12, 2007

Top Items:

AMES: Romney WIns; Huckabee In Second — Gov Mitt Romney won the 2007 Ames straw poll, receiving 4516 votes, or 31%. — In a surprise, Gov. Mike Huckabee finished second with 2587 votes at 18.1% — 11. John Cox with 41 votes. — 10. John McCain with 101 votes. — 9. Duncan Hunter with 174 votes.

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Lonewacko, Obsidian Wings, The Corner, The Impolitic and Pajamas Media

Des Moines Register:

Romney wins, Huckabee in 2nd — Ames, Ia. — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney emerged on top at Iowa GOP's straw poll Saturday in Ames. — The win boosted the former Massachusetts governor's standing as the party's frontrunner in Iowa, although attendance at this first show …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Caucus, Liberal Values, Ezra Klein, Daily Kos, The Next Hurrah, The Right's Field and Iowa Voice

The Atlantic Online:

Straw Poll Results Delayed Due To Voting Machine Malfunction — AMES — The announcement of tonight's straw poll results has been delayed due to what one informed source says was a voting machine malfunction. About 4,500 ballots had to be re-run. We are waiting....

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Redstate, The Carpetbagger Report and JammieWearingFool

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Analysis: Huckabee's 2nd-Place 'Win' in Ames — AMES, Iowa — The biggest political event of the 2007 calendar year gave former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a victory, but the biggest winner may well be former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who placed a surprising second.

Discussion: The Corner and Connecting.the.Dots

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Straw Poll Expectations Setting — AMES, Iowa — It's finally here. — The Fix drove 45 minutes north from Des Moines this morning through land dominated by corn fields to arrive in this college town that, for today at least, is at the center of the political universe. — The atmosphere is like a carnival.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Political Radar, New York Times, Hot Air, Eschaton and TIME

Patrick Ruffini / Townhall.com:

Huckabee! — Ames results are as follows: — Mitt Romney 4516 votes (31.0%) — Mike Huckabee 2587 votes (18.1%) — Sam Brownback 2192 votes (15.3%) — Tom Tancredo 1961 votes (13.7%). — Ron Paul with 1305 votes (9.1%) — Tommy Thompson 1,009 votes (7.3%) — Fred Thompson 231 votes (1.6%)

Discussion: Reason Magazine

Mark Preston / CNN:

Romney wins Iowa GOP straw poll — AMES, Iowa (CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican straw poll Saturday, giving his campaign a boost six months before the state holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in second, followed by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback.

Talking Points Memo:

RESULTS FROM AMES — So, how'd things turn out in the Ames Straw Poll? The final tally was delayed after a voting-machine error (insert sly joke here), but here are the results, by way of IowaPolitics.com: — 1. Mitt Romney — 2. Mike Huckabee — 3. Sam Brownback — 4. Tom Tancredo

Jamiecnn / CNN Political Ticker:

Ron Paul's wife hospitalized in Iowa — DES MOINES, Iowa — Rep. Ron Paul's wife was hospitalized Saturday morning, the Texas Republican's presidential campaign announced shortly before voting was to begin in the Ames GOP straw poll. — "Carol experienced an irregular heartbeat early this morning …

Discussion: The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Iowa Voice, New York Times, Donklephant, Captain's Quarters and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

New York Times:
Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll by a Sizable Margin

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker

Eye / eyeon08.com:
Romney wins; conservatives split

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Open Left

Jamiecnn / CNN Political Ticker:
Iowa teens churn out activism in Ames

Discussion: The Politico

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
Iowa straw poll may weed field

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Post, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report, The Glittering Eye and Attytood

Gail Collins / New York Times:
[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Republicans in the Straw

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Romney pigs out at Iowa State Fair

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, CNN and Sister Toldjah

Bill Roggio / Weekly Standard:

The Army Responds — I recently emailed Col. Steve Boylan asking for whatever information he could provide regarding the status of the investigation of Scott Thomas Beauchamp. Here is his response:

Discussion: Power Line, Confederate Yankee, baldilocks, Exurban League, Wake up America, AMERICAN DIGEST, Say Anything and Riehl World View

New York Times:

How a 'Good War' in Afghanistan Went Bad — Two years after the Taliban fell to an American-led coalition, a group of NATO ambassadors landed in Kabul, Afghanistan, to survey what appeared to be a triumph — a fresh start for a country ripped apart by years of war with the Soviets and brutal repression by religious extremists.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Nathaniel Fick / Washington Post:
Fight Less, Win More

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and The Newshoggers

Cernig / The Newshoggers:

Johnson & Johnson Jump The Shark — Via Raw Story, a tale of such mind-bogglingly venal corporate greed and stupidity as to make your jaw go thunk. Johnson & Johnson has sued the American Red Cross for using its trademark redcross on a white background emblem "for other than non-profit purposes".

Discussion: Comments From Left Field

Agence France Presse: Pharmaceutical giant sues Red Cross over its emblem

New York Times:

Democrats Say Leaving Iraq May Take Years — Even as they call for an end to the war and pledge to bring the troops home, the Democratic presidential candidates are setting out positions that could leave the United States engaged in Iraq for years. — John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Wake up America, JammieWearingFool, neo-neocon, The Atlantic Online, Prairie Weather and The CultureGhost

Associated Press:

Embattled AG Gonzales visits Baghdad — WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under fire at home with calls for his resignation, is spending some time in Iraq. — The Justice Department said that Gonzales arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for his third trip to Iraq to meet …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Paul V. Dutton / Boston Globe:

France's model healthcare system — MANY advocates of a universal healthcare system in the United States look to Canada for their model. While the Canadian healthcare system has much to recommend it, there's another model that has been too long neglected. That is the healthcare system in France.

Discussion: skippy the bush kangaroo and Riehl World View

The Atlantic Online:

AMES: A Low Turnout: About 14,000 — Campaign officials estimate that around 14,000 Iowans cast straw ballots today. That's about sixty percent of the 23,500 who voted in 1999. So, turnout is clearly low. But that's not surprising, given that three major candidates refused to attend.

Discussion: TIME and Donklephant