Straw Polls

Now what?

The theatrics of the 2005 GOP Convention have been played. The stump speeches have been heard. The t-shirt/lapel-sticker/cookie crews have demonstrated their dedication on the convention floor and hospitality suites.

Jeesh, with 490-some days until the primaries, these candidates will struggle for attention like a Milwaukee Admirals hockey game.

Republicans still have another one of these shows to produce before the real thing starts.

Which means, when the low-hanging fruit is picked, when hard-earned campaign donations are spent on overhead, when campaign RVs are racking up miles at $2.29 gallon, when staff throw knock-out punches and the candidates are choking from another round of Lincoln Day Dinners and County Caucuses, when those same candidates are melting from a second summer of parades, fairs and festivals, only then, will the real thing start.

And about that time, a Tim Michels or a Mark Neumann jumps-in and scrambles the math -- a real possibility if either Green or Walker let-up on intensity.

It’s not called paranoia if you are truly being followed.