ORLANDO -- The Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce held their traditional "Politics in the Park" hob nob Thursday evening at Sea World, with politicians from Congress to judges in attendance to mix, mingle and make their case to the business crowd.
The Orlando hob nob is one of the oldest and largest in Central Florida. This year's event included a barbecue dinner, a show featuring Shamu the killer whale, and a straw poll.
The gatherings tend to be friendly affairs, but even the participants acknowledged this year has been tense politically.
Republican John McCain won the straw poll's presidential race, 61 percent to 37 percent over Democrat Barack Obama -- not necessarily a surprise, with a business group leaning Republican.
The straw ballot asked for party identification, and showed 58 percent of those who voted said they were Republicans and 28 percent Democrats. The remaining 14 percent admitted to neither party.
Read the full results of the straw poll.
Comment on this story.