Iowa

The Iowa straw poll is now history, and now that the dust and bits of straw and chaff have died down a bit I will stand back and take a look.

What I find is pretty damned bad, albeit predictable.

Mad-Eye Michelle Bachmann came in first, pretty much neck-and-neck with Ron Paul. Now, the Iowa straw poll really doesn't mean all that much in terms of figuring out who the eventual GOP nominee might be. Based on the people who show up and actually vote in the poll, it's more a test of how crazy the candidate might be. Based on this, Bachmann and Paul lap the rest of the field.

Coming in a sick third was Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out this afternoon. A queasy staff, piss-poor funding and a general lack of enthusiasm did T-Paw in.

For the rest of him, I will let the late Sir Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart recite Pawlenty's eulogy:



So, there were eight, and now there are eight again, since Secessionist Governor of Texas Rick "Big Boy's Hair" Perry decided to listen to the voices in his head and start running for the Presidency. Perry is a decidedly scary reactionary buttfucker, and has some potential.

The rest of the field includes McCotter, Santorum, Gingrich, Cain, Romney and (as far as I know) Rosalie the Flatulent Spaniel. The true tests will come in about six months, when the actual caucuses and primaries begin to winnow out the chaff.

And believe you me, there's a lot of chaff to winnow.