Earlier this week, the Hilton Head, S.C., First Monday Club — a group I’ve been lucky enough to address several times — met and held an informal straw poll.
The results: Newt Gingrich 34, Mitt Romney 30, Rick Santorum — whose brother, Dan Santorum, lives on Hilton Head, and who spoke at the meeting — 22, Ron Paul 1, Rick Perry 1. No one in attendance preferred Jon Huntsman.
They also asked the assembled Republicans who they liked among the options for the vice-presidential running mate, and the name most frequently mentioned was . . . Marco Rubio.
Santorum will be campaigning through this part of the state today, stopping at Sun City, Hilton Head, Beaufort, and Charleston.