This piece of news is for Rep. Ron Paul supporters...

Yeah I had a comment with regards to Rep. Ron Paul's participation in the straw poll hosted at the Illinois State Fair yesterday. I had mentioned that there was an impending straw poll earlier this month.

Anyway this quote was pulled from a State Journal Register article and I got this from Rich Miller's Capitol Fax Blog post about Republican day at the Illinois state fair...

Just before state GOP chairman Andy McKenna announced the results from the podium at the Director’s Lawn at the fair, sign-carrying supporters of Paul, who has developed an Internet-driven following, traded chants with the gathered supporters of the ultimate winner.

And shortly after Thursday’s program, Republican Day at the state fair, some state troopers calmed participants in a disagreement spurred by Paul supporters waving their signs behind the heads of Craig Romney and Illinois Romney chairman Dan Rutherford, a state senator from Chenoa, during TV interviews being done away from the stage.

Here's a little more about the Congressman Ron Paul from the state of Texas also in said Capitol Fax post but this article is from the Tribune...

Paul's libertarian stylings and campaign of strict interpretation of the Constitution has earned him an unorthodox band of sign-carrying supporters. They frequently interrupted TV reports of the event and at one point, Romney's Illinois chairman, state Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa), ripped a sign out of one Paul supporter's hands and threw it on the ground.

Contentious, eh? Maybe Rutherford should have kept his cool, perhaps it's no wonder he unsuccessful in beating Lisa Madigan for state attorney general last year.

I wonder if Rep. Paul's campaign could be the sleeper of this race. The person no one sees coming to take the nomination. Who knows, but while this is the first straw poll held by the Illinois GOP and it hasn't established much importance yet Paul's coming in third isn't too bad.

As I mentioned earlier this week there was a straw poll in neighboring Iowa. If you want to win there, it will require lots of money to bribe people to vote for you and I guess give you a boost in your quest to become the Republican nominee for president. In Illinois all you have to do is show that you're a registered voter with a valid Illinois driver's license and instead of letting the candidates pay you, you have to pay a fee to participate.

Perhaps the Illinois straw vote is a better gauge than anything else. BTW former Massachusettes Gov. Mitt Romney was the winner followed by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson then Rep. Ron Paul came in third.