In my inbox this morning:

This month we have a new winner in the Townhall/HotAir GOP Presidential Straw Poll! Congratulations to Texas Rep. Ron Paul! Paul took the victory in the April Straw Poll, gaining 3.29 percentage points from the previous month when he finished second behind former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Palin dropped 4.72 percentage points to finish this month in second. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney actually lost support but moved from fourth place to third. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich fell from third to fifth behind former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

This big issue now in the presidential is certainly going to be the reactions and reverberations across the media and internet with the astounding news of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of the U.S. military (Obama, Commander in Chief). These guys fall all over each other at any opportunity to get their reactions in the press, and there’s no real shockers as we’re pretty sure they have been throroughly sanitized by press aides (Trump is thus-far untypically tight-lipped on this one):

Mitt Romney: “This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere. Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden’s many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist.”

Mike Huckabee: “It is unusual to celebrate a death, but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden is dead… It has taken a long time for this monster to be brought to justice. Welcome to hell, bin Laden. Let us all hope that his demise will serve notice to Islamic radicals the world over that the United States will be relentless is tracking down and terminating those who would inflict terror, mayhem and death on any of our citizens.”

Tim Pawlenty: “This is terrific news for freedom and justice. In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush promised that America would bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and we did. I want to congratulate America’s armed forces and President Obama for a job well done. Let history show that the perseverance of the US military and the American people never wavered. America will never shrink from the fight and ultimately those who seek to harm us face only defeat. Today, justice is done, but the fight against radical Islamic terrorism is not yet over.”

Sarah Palin: “Thank you, American men and women in uniform. You are America’s finest and we are all so proud. Thank you for fighting against terrorism.”

And of course Ron Paul is taking his time to give his response to the OBL death news, but we’re sure it’s going to be good, considering this widely overlooked/panned bill he introduced way back in the day:

Paul has offered legislation (H.R. 3216) to authorize Bush to issue letters of marquee and reprisal to those private citizens or entities that want to seize outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and its territories the person and property of Osama bin Laden, of any al Qaeda co-conspirator, and of any conspirator with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda who are responsible for the air piratical aggressions and depredations perpetrated upon the United States of America on September 11, 2001, or future attacks. Paul offered this proposal back in October 2001, arguing that it would allow Congress to authorize the President to specifically target Bin Laden and his associates using non-government armed forces. Since it is nearly impossible for U.S. intelligence teams to get close to Bin Laden, the marque and reprisal approach creates an incentive for people in Afghanistan or elsewhere to turn him over to the [United States].

The upcoming May 5th GOP debates in Charleston will be interesting, to say the least, with so many uh “personalities” jockeying on the national stage at once. It’s definitely on our to-watch list just to see how excitable Sarah Palin will be about the new Obama birth certificate and whether Donald Trump’s permanently constipated look will falter if Ron Paul jabs him in the right spot. My money is on Huckabee trying to steal the show, because nobody ever talks about Huckabee before the debates.