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With all due respect to Marc Ambinder, George Allen's 2005 CPAC straw poll victory probably had less to do with the fact that he was from Virginia than the perception that he was one of the more conservative viable 2008 possibilities. And the idea that he wouldn't blow a 2006 Senate race in which he was heavily favored by using a racial slur to describe a volunteer for the opposing campaign while on camera.

UPDATE: So much for my memory. Allen won the straw poll in 2006, not 2005. It's also should be noted that participants were asked that year who they thought would win the nomination rather than their preference, though I suspect there was considerable overlap.