PRESIDENTIAL STRAW POLL COUNTDOWN

LATEST NEWS

With MS Gov. Haley Barbour's announcement that he won't run for president, what is to be done with the dozens of MSers his political team recruited to attend the SRLC? We hear that while Barbour officially released them to support other candidates in December (2/14)

Sen. Bill Frist's VOLPAC wants to help fellow TNeans attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. A notice posted on the Nashville-Davidson Co. GOP website asks GOPers to "consider attending." From the website: "To make it EASY and FUN, a bus has been chartered to take those attending on Saturday, March 11th. The bus will depart Bellevue Mall at 7:15 a.m. Attendees will participate in the Straw Poll (10 -- 12 or 2 -- 5). They can also attend the luncheon with Senator Frist as the Keynote Speaker. There is a private party from 2:30 -- 4:30 at the Rendezvous (Famous Ribs)." Yum! (2/17)

CONFIRMED '08 SPEAKERS

SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R-VA)

· Alamanac Profile
· Campaign website
· Tipsheet

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS)

· Alamanac Profile
· Campaign Website

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN)

· Alamanac Profile
· VOLPAC
· Tipsheet

GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R-AR)

· Alamanac Profile
· GOV website
· Tipsheet

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-TN)

· Alamanac Profile
· PAC website

GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA)

· Alamanac Profile
· RGA website
· Tipsheet

ABOUT THE HOTLINE STRAW POLL

The Hotline will conduct a presidential preference straw poll at this year's Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Every two years, the SRLC brings together thousands of influential Republicans across the South, including state and county chairs, elected officials, major donors and consultants, national party leaders and grassroots activists.This year, members of the Midwestern Republican Leadership Conference are invited, bringing the total number of states represented to 26. Prospective presidential candidates -- especially those who consider the South and Midwest critical to their nomination strategies -- can't miss the opportunity to speak before registrants. And the Hotline will take their pulse.

SRLC HISTORY

The SRLC rose to prominence in the 1980s as GOPers began to consolidate congressional districts across the South. As Ronald Reagan told the gathering in '84 in GA: "It wasn't that long ago, yes, when the South was a stronghold for the Democratic Party. But from the spirit I sense here, those days are long gone. Today it's the Republican Party that reflects the progress and the vibrance of the new South."

At the '98 straw poll in Biloxi, MS, candidate/speakers included Lamar Alexander, John Aschroft, Dan Quayle and Steve Forbes. All were well-received, but the one man who didn't show -- then TX Gov. George W. Bush -- won the poll, a testament to his early strength among GOP elites. (Bush was busy campaigning in his GOV primary which was the very next week.) Forbes came in second, a reflection of the popularity of his tax message (which Bush later adopted) and his surprising strength among social conservatives. There were many 'Bush-Quayle' signs in the audience; Quayle placed third. Then-Sen. Fred Thompson got 10 percent. The SRLC can also break candidacies: Jack Kemp's speech was so poorly received that it portended the beginning of the end of his candidacy.