This is just pathetic.

Republican leaders are currently attending a huge soiree down in Memphis. It's the site of the 2006 Southern Republican Leadership Conference. One of the highlights of the event is supposed to be a straw-poll for the 2008 Presidential nominee. McCain, Lott, Frist - they're all down there pressing the flesh and kissing babies, all without the distraction of those meddling Democrats. What could possibly go wrong?

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) told the Grind he believes the poll -- that will be conducted by The Hotline at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference -- is "a rigged deal" and should not serve as a barometer to determine who might be the best candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

"Frist is bussing people in," Lott said, referring to Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), whose political organization is working to ensure he wins this unscientific early test of election viability. "These are not real delegates. These are people being bussed in to produce the results. It is a rigged deal. It doesn't matter."

That's right - Republican leaders are fighting with one another over accusations of attempts to rig the unscientific, unbinding, prizeless straw-poll. Not that election fixing is anything new to the Republican leadership, mind you. If you will recall, Republicans in the House had to call do-over on the election for House Majority Leader last month. Why? When the votes came in, there were more votes than Congressmen.

Republicans can't even hold an honest election within their own party. Pathetic.