Howard Dean won a straw poll at the Wisconsin Democratic Party convention over the weekend. The straw poll has no real effect, except its indication of which candidate has the support of the party faithful in Wisconsin. It's notable in that Senator Kerry's nationwide name recognition did not help him win the poll, and no one can say that Dean won because of favorite-son status (he's from Vermont). Here are the results:
| Candidate Name | Wisconsin Delegate Support |
Dean | 57.7% |
| Kerry | 14.2% |
| Kucinich | 7.7% |
| Graham | 5.4% |
| Edwards | 5.1% |
| Gephardt | 2.8% |
| Moseley Braun | 1.4% |
| Lieberman | 1.1% |
| Sharpton | 0.6% |
Yes, as we pointed out last week, it is too early to put too much stock in polls, but these straw polls of party activists can be good indicators of how the rank and file partisans will vote in 2004. Howard Dean may not win, but his organization and support, as evidenced in this poll, is better among activists than the alleged front-runner John Kerry. So, the lessons of this poll are (1) Howard Dean has a real shot, (2) Gephardt is in trouble -- he should do better than New England liberals in the midwest, (3) Lieberman may only be a regional candidate, and (4) Graham and Edwards must be running for 2008.
