Bobblection fan poll gives win to Romney

Fans of 10 U.S. professional and college baseball teams picked Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president in a "Bobblection straw poll," the poll indicated. The fun vote was 6 to 4 in favor of Romney, with the final fan tally from the Fort Myers (Fla.) Miracle Class A Advanced affiliate of the Minnesota Twins completed Thursday night shortly before Romney delivered his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The Fort Myers team, 125 miles south of Tampa, went for Democrat Obama 50.2 percent to Romney's 49.8 percent, team Broadcasting and Multimedia Manager Brice Zimmerman told United Press International. The poll, which started in 2004, picked the past two presidential winners, but the earlier polls were limited to the four teams owned and managed by the Goldklang Group of Florham Park, N.J. This year's poll was expanded to other teams in the leagues Goldklang-owned teams play in, Corinne Adams, manager of community marketing and communications for New York's Hudson Valley Renegades Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, told UPI. "We're hoping to go three for three," she said. Fans entering ballparks on specific nights from Aug. 6 through Thursday were asked to take part in an unscientific straw poll by selecting the free giveaway bobblehead doll of their preferred presidential candidate, the Bobblection Web site says. An equal number of Obama and Romney dolls were available. The first candidate to run out of bobbles was declared that club's winner. Based on the remaining bobbles, the poll percentage was submitted to the Bobblection Web site, managed by Match-Up Promotions LLC. Fans of teams going for Romney were the Colorado Rockies' Ashville (N.C.) Tourists, the New York Yankees' Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs, the Texas Rangers' Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads, the Renegades, the Philadelphia Phillies' Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws and the Lincoln (Neb.) SaltDogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is separate from Major League Baseball. Fans of teams going for Obama were the AAIPB Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., the Miracle, the Pittsfield (Mass.) Suns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and Minnesota's St. Paul Saints of the AAIPB. Romney won by an average 7.1 percentage points, a UPI tally indicated. The percentages separating the winners from the losers ranged from the 0.4 points Obama won among Miracle fans to 24 points for Obama among Saints fans, the UPI tally showed. Romney won biggest among Crawdads fans, with a 14 percentage point victory.