I’m back from vacation, for what it’s worth.

And fittingly, here’s something from the For What It’s Worth files:

Rudy Giuliani won a straw poll among Pennsylvania Republican Party members in Hershey over the weekend. It was the first time that the party has run a mock election among its GOP state committee members.

Giuliani got 87 votes. Potential presidential candidate Fred Thompson, of Tennessee, the actor and former U.S. senator, placed second with 40 votes.

Here’s the rest of the balloting: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 12 votes; former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is considering a run, 10 votes; and U.S. Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, 7 votes. The rest of the votes were split among lesser-known candidates, and a few voters couldn’t decide.

Republican Party Chairman Robert A. Gleason Jr., in a statement, congratulated Giuliani for winning the straw poll. He said it wasn’t an endorsement, but gives the campaigns an idea of the support they have in the state among GOP party leaders.

It was the second time in two weeks that Giuliani, New York City’s mayor during 9/11, got the nod in a straw poll in Pennsylvania.

At the Manufacturers’ Association of Northwest Pennsylvania’s annual event in Erie, 1,500 people in attendance voted for Giuliani for the GOP nomination and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

Again, the polls mean nothing in terms of winning primaries or elections. But they show the intense interest in a presidential election that’s still more than one year away.

— John Guerriero