AMES -- Admittedly, this reporter was skeptical when numbers like 40,000 were thrown around when people were estimating the number of attendees at the Straw Poll. Now, we see where that number comes from. At 11:30, the crowd has arrived. Hundreds are chowing down on Hickory Farms barbecue under the Mitt Romney tent, while a smaller but still impressive number eats Famous Dave's next door at Sam Brownback's headquarters.

At this moment, it appears that Romney's crowd is the largest. The former Massachusetts governor speaks to the assembled multitude first, around 12:45 CT, so his voters may be motivated to get here first. Romney will be followed by Tom Tancredo, John Cox, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Tommy Thompson and Brownback.

Exhorting the gathered crowd to go vote for him, former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee said he, and his followers, knew what the Washington crowd thought of him, and knew that they were telling people what to think. Still offering free tickets to voters, Huckabee asked that people vote for him before his band, Capitol Offense, played. "I'm afraid that if you vote after you hear us play," the governor joked, "you'll vote for someone else." About 150 people followed Huckabee's daughter to the polls.

Notable attendees include two former top Republican House leaders, Newt Gingrich and J.C. Watts, as well as the snowman made famous in the Democratic YouTube debate, who hovered near Huckabee's tent.

Other campaigns expressed hope as voting entered its second hour. "All indications are our people will come out today," said Bay Buchanan, a top strategist for Tancredo. She indicated that the campaign was beating expectations early this morning, as more voters boarded buses than they had anticipated.

Finally, a clarification: We reported this morning that Romney's campaign had golf carts. Now we realize that every campaign was given the carts to use during the day. Romney's folks were just using them earlier than others.