The Pendragon's Hall

There was some heartening news for the Pendragon amid my sports-teams' dismal showing last night (the Blue Jays went down 4-1 to the Royals and the Giants lost to their arch-nemesis Carolina 24-21 in their preseason opener): Mitt Romney proved he is a viable presidential candidate by trouncing his 10 opponents in the Iowa straw poll. For my foreign readers, this has nothing to do with the caucus (to be held sometime in December or January, I forget which) but gives an idea which way Iowa is leaning. The last two victors in the straw poll went on to win the Republican presidential nomination (Bob Dole in 1995 and George W. Bush in 1999). It is no guarantee and of course backers of Giuliani and McCain are defending their candidates' choice not to compete, saying they were saving their money for the real contest, but the spunky Pendragon begs to differ: Giuliani and McCain, quite simply, have no money to spend. Nobody is donating to them--few people are pulling for them. Whether this "victory" translates into something more substantial for Romney, who continues to dominate the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida, while trailing a distant fourth nationally, remains to be seen, but it is an exciting development that may be a portent of things to come. In the meanwhile, true Republicans should take heart--you will not be condemned to choose between Hillary Giuliani and Rudy Clinton.