Straw Poll Noon Update

So, I've been at the Iowa GOP Straw Poll in Ames for nearly three hours now. Here's what I can tell you.

Michele Bachmann's campaign is clearly the most heavily organized and has delivered a big crowd to the poll. Her shirts and stickers seem to be on every third person you run into. Turnout here seems heavier than 2007, maybe not as large as the 24,000-ish that showed up in 1999. That's probably good news for her.

Ron Paul also seems to have a sizable contingent, so don't out him out. And the pork burgers at Rick Santorum's tent are being cooked by We3 Catering from my ancestral homeland of Belmond, Iowa. So a hometown shout out to them.

I've also run into several people who are writing in Texas Gov. Rick Perry's name on the straw ballot. He officially announced his candidacy today in South Carolina.

His speech is being simulcast on the straw poll grounds. This does not mean I've found a good bowl of chili, however.

I've got video of voters explaining their choices, of something called a Thaddeus McCotter riffing on his ax, Rick Santorum leading a bagpipe procession, and much much more I'll be posting this afternoon.

To give you a flavor of the poll, here are the two top selling buttons, according to a vendor I spoke with.

A bemused Democrat I ran into pointed out the second one could also be sold at the Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, the other party's big fund-raiser.

Speaking of famous Americans, here is Uncle Sam, all full of himself, and air.

And last, but not least, Abe and Ben. In the AARP tent. Yes, they are members.