Iowa Loves Them Some Crazy, Hates Milquetoast

CNN: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll Saturday, besting eight other Republican candidates in a nonbinding but politically significant vote in the first caucus state of Iowa.

"This is the first step toward taking the White House in 2012," Bachmann told the crowd. "And you have sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president. This is a wonderful down payment on taking the country back -- and it started in Iowa."

Once again, Iowa shows its irrelevancy by dismissing any possible legitimate candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in their Ames Straw Poll and instead choosing Michele Bachmann as the person they'd like to represent Iowans, closely followed by Ron Paul.

The vote tallies were:

Michele Bachmann: 4,823
Ron Paul: 4,671
Tim Pawlenty: 2,293
Rick Santorum:1,567
Herman Cain: 1,456
Rick Perry: 718
Mitt Romney: 567
Newt Gingrich: 385
Jon Huntsman: 69
Thad McCotter: 35

Of course, this poll means practically nothing if you look at past winners. I mean, Pat Robertson won the thing in 1987, the same Pat Robertson that said Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment because of America's abortion policy.

The real winners of this Straw Poll were Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, who didn't even have to spend any time in Iowa and let Bachmann knock off Tim Pawlenty, a more legitimate but intensely boring candidate, who decided to call it quits after coming in, not second, but a distant third behind Ron Paul.

I suppose when you shoot yourself in the foot by coining "Obamneycare" and then show you have no balls by walking it back the next day in Romney's presence during the GOP's first primary debate, have no money and no support, it's probably the smartest thing you can do. No Pawlenty can go back to being irrelevant and ignored on the local level.