With over 12,000 votes in, the latest GOP Bloggers 2008 Straw Poll of GOP contenders shows Romney as both the number one 'first choice' of bloggers and blog readers and the 'most acceptable candidate.'

First Choice:

Romney	3442 27.6%
Gingrich	3027 24.3%
Giuliani	2635 21.1%

Candidate Acceptability:

Romney

5793

+46.5%

Gingrich	5708	+45.8%
Giuliani	4214	+33.8%

(Results captured approximately 1:10 pm ET)

Supporters of the top 3 potential candidates (Romney, Guiliani and Gingrich) are largely committment to their respective candidate of choice, which puts Romney in a very strong position to launch a very successful online grassroots campaign. With his impressive exploratory committee website, and his campaign's clear understanding of how to use the internet to respond to attacks quickly, Romney has proven himself very able to win the GOP nomination.

UPDATE: Robert Bluey observes:

While Romney appears to be making strides -- although 27.6% isn't anywhere near a majority -- Sen. John McCain is losing ground. Romney's decision to invest heavily in his online operation should send McCain a message: It's time to overhaul the black-and-white website with something more substantive and hire a full-time person to deal with bloggers.

Stephen Smith, Romney's director of online communications, highlighted the results today in an e-mail to bloggers:

The results are in! Governor Romney wins the January edition of the GOP Bloggers straw poll, in terms of “first choice” and of “candidate acceptability.”

Other interesting points from the crosstabs:

• Governor Romney leads “first choice” at all levels of vote certainty;
• Governor Romney leads “first choice” at all levels of blog readership;
• Governor Romney comes in the top three in “first choice” and “candidacy acceptability” at each of the top eight participating blogs.

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