Dallas County Republican precinct chairs recently held a presidential straw poll.

Former senator-turned-actor Fred Thompson won it with about 48 percent of the vote. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani finished a distant second with 15 percent. Arizona Sen. John McCain got only 1 percent of the tally.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton brings her presidential campaign to Dallas on Friday. The campaign has released few details. She's scheduled to have a private fundraiser at the Adam's Mark Hotel. She'll be in Fort Worth on Saturday.

President Bush was trying to get rebellious Senate Republicans to resurrect the latest federal immigration proposal, but the local GOP already has weighed in on the issue: The Dallas County Republican Party voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to stop any legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Gromer Jeffers Jr.