So, Mitt Romney is celebrating his victory in the Iowa Republican straw poll in Ames, where nearly 15,000 partisans paid a poll tax to vote on Saturday, August 13. But his glee, if sincere, is foolish. Take a look at these results from IowaPolitics.com:

Detailed results

14,302 ballots cast

1 Mitt Romney, 4,516 votes, 31.6 percent
2 Mike Huckabee, 2,587 votes, 18.1 percent
3 Sam Brownback, 2,192 votes, 15.3 percent
4 Tom Tancredo, 1,961 votes, 13.7 percent
5 Ron Paul, 1,305 votes, 9.1 percent
6 Tommy Thompson, 1,039 votes, 7.3 percent
7 Fred Thompson, 203 votes, 1.4 percent
8 Rudy Guiliani, 183 votes, 1.3 percent
9 Duncan Hunter, 174 votes, 1.2 percent
10 John McCain - 101 votes, 0.7 percent
11 John Cox- 41 votes, 0.1 percent

John McCain (at one time almost the presumptive nominee), Rudy Giuliani (leader in most national polls), and Fred Thompson (Anything For A Buck Fred, who leads in the other national polls and appears to be the Dream Republic Candidate) did not compete. Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, and Tommy Thompson, who did compete, finished third through sixth. Tancredo, Paul, and T. Thompson- all marginal- now, then, and forever. The first runner-up? Mike Huckabee, more personable, less threatening, and quicker on his feet than Brownback. Obviously, among the announced candidates, Romney and Giuliani are the front-runners, and I believe Romney has a much better chance of being nominated. But he can't be happy that Huckabee beat out Brownback, Tancredo, Paul, Thompson, and Hunter.