Romney's win suspect?

Some commentors have argued that Romney’s organization at CPAC undercuts his strong showing. Matt Lewis at Townhall.com finds this reasoning faulty:

Some people will tell you that Mitt Romney didn't deserve to win (because he bussed in College Republicans to vote for him). That's like saying George W. Bush didn't deserve to win because he raised more money than his opponent. Romney's ability to organize, inspire, and transport college students to the conference is precisely why he did deserve to win! A campaign that has the organizational ability to bus in college students has the organizational ability to do a lot of other things, too. The rules allow for it, so what's wrong with Romney doing what he has to do (within the rules) to win?

Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

After a well-received speech at CPAC on Friday, Mitt Romney won the CPAC straw poll. It's important to note that these straw polls are not scientific and should clearly be taken with a grain of salt (especially considering the emphasis Romney put on getting out the vote), but, that said, I think it's a pretty remarkable achievement for Romney, who has had a string of pretty bad weeks on the campaign trail. What a difference a weekend makes. The final results from the CPAC straw poll (out of a total of 1,705 voters) were:

1. Mitt Romney - 21%
2. Rudy Giuliani - 17%
3. Sam Brownback - 15%
4. New Gingrich - 14%
   
5. John McCain - 12%
   

The press Romney has received in conservative circles since his speech has to be pretty gratifying for his camp and definitely gives him some momentum heading into March (I'm sure he's enjoying some of his headlines in the MSM as well).

In spite of losing to Romney, I think Giuliani's showing is still surprisingly strong considering the audience he was addressing. Brownback and Gingrich both fared as well as one would have expected, as did McCain (which is precisely why he didn't make time to attend). What I found surprising is Duncan Hunter's disappearance. This is an audience one would have expected him to pull a lot of support from. I have a feeling Romney might have stolen some of his thunder.

McCain News

• McCain announced on Friday that Mitt Romney's former senior political director Rob Gray, will be serving has his New England regional political strategist. Gray said "I like Mitt, but I think John McCain is the right candidate to carry our party to victory in 2008." Does a defection like this hurt Romney? If so, how much?
  

• The Arizona Republic quoted political oracle Larry Sabato saying of last week's Arizona straw poll "[it] does suggest that there is enduring enmity toward McCain in many conservative circles. They just don't like him, and they never will. McCain could walk on water, and their headline would be, 'McCain can't swim.'" Other notables, however, contended that the straw poll was dubious. Arizona's GOP chair Matt Salmon claimed it was "the last salvo in an ongoing attack by a disgruntled few. . . They try to make it seem like the opposition is a lot bigger and broader than it really is."