Some interesting results. . .

. . .from the Michigan Straw Poll are posted at The Hotline (h/t The Corner), today. While I'm not exactly a big believer in straw polls, when something is surprising, it's surprising. I never would have imagined that John McCain would have pulled 27% of the votes cast. And, according to David Freddoso of the aforementioned NRO blog, unlike Mitt Romney (the winner with 39%), McCain paid no one to show up, and his campaign had experienced a major shakeup in the state, with his chairman resigning just a few days ahead of the event.

I can't help wondering if McCain has helped his cause over the past few days with his performance at the NRA convention this week. He certainly said the sort of things that conservative Republican primary voters love to hear. It just remains to be seen whether he damaged his credibility among those voters too much in the last election to be able to win enough of them over. If he has any hope of doing so, McCain needs to keep doing what he's doing now. This is where it's at for McCain:

"If you show your bona fides by hunting ducks or varmints or quail it makes up for support of gun control," said McCain. "This myth overlooks a fundamental truth, the Second Amendment is not about hunting, it's about freedom."

UPDATE: I somewhat mischaracterized David Freddoso's words regarding Romney's having "paid" people to show up -- a distinction he points out in an update to his previous posting. Romney actually paid to have people show up by covering some of the expenses they would normally have incurred. That's a little different from handing out "walking around money," and I should have been more careful with my words. My humble apologies for any confusion.