by user Michael Smith The bad news is - I didn’t win. That’s OK, I didn’t expect to win. The good news is – I came in 5 th and beat 9 others. The Dorchester Conference gathers Oregon Republicans for a weekend in beautiful Seaside. This year it included a townhall session with Sen. Gordon Smith (not particularly well received), a much more appreciated speech by Rep Greg Walden, and a presidential straw poll as this morning’s grand finale. The audience could nominate whomever they wanted. Here are the results (with my impressions) John McCain – 19 votes (seemed like mostly “hawk” votes)