McCain, Huckabee take Coffee Bean Convention

The results are in ... from the Coffee Bean Convention at the Groundskeeper Cafe in Downtown Racine. John McCain was the overall winner with 257 beans dropped in his can, followed by Mike Huckabee with 236 beans. Obama was the top Democrat with 221 beans. Hillary Clinton received 200. Here's the rundown of the rest:

Ron Paul - 184 beans
Duncan Hunter - 7 beans
Cynthina McKinney (Green Party) - 3 beans
Mike Gravel - 2 beans

Groundskeeper owner Cindy Gross said she was surprised to see the Republicans come out on top. "It seemed like everyone who came was either Obama or Clinton," she said.

In all, 1,110 beans were cast into cans for the various candidates. Customers each got one vote per visit to support the candidate of their choice.

The Coffee Bean Convention, which Gross borrowed from a cafe in Iowa, garnered attention from the local media ... and beyond. A freelance writer for the New York Times interviewed her for an hour last week on the idea, but an article has yet to appear in the paper. (Searching today's paper, we did find this letter from Joan Evangelisti in the Science Times.)

Gross also said the Obama campaign seemed interested in bringing the Illinois senator by for a latte (or whatever he drinks). But, alas, Gross was too busy slinging drinks to talk with the campaign representative and the idea dissolved like Splenda in a decaf.

Gross is hopeful she'll get another shot. She's going to keep her convention going past Wisconsin's primary, and possibly to the general election. Maybe Obama will stop by the next time around, she said.