Paul Wins CPAC Poll
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) won the '10 CPAC straw poll by a wide margin, demonstrating that the WH'08 contender who generated big crowds still has a significant grassroots following.
Paul captured 31% of the vote, which came from just under 2,400 voters casting ballots over 2 days. Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who had won the last 3 CPAC straw polls, came in second, with 22% of the vote.
Paul's win is a blow to other possible WH'12 contenders, including Romney, ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin, who finished 3rd with 7%, and MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who finished 4th with 6%. Still, the crowd booed when Paul's win was announced, while every other contender won applause. Paul's victory will allow other candidates to dismiss the results and look ahead to next year's contest.
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich each won 5%, while ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee won 4% of the vote. IN Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) each took 2%, while MS Gov. Haley Barbour (R) clocked in at just 1%.
Still, 53% of voters said they wish the GOP had a better field of potential candidates. Last year, a majority of voters said they were satisfied with the the current crop of candidates, pollster Tony Fabrizio said.
The straw poll is widely seen as an early test of organizing ability in advance of the WH'12 campaign. Though representatives of most candidates on the ballot insisted they had not pushed to win votes, sources said Romney's and Pawlenty's organizers had worked to get their supporters to cast ballots.
Campaign for Liberty, a group that backs Paul, also aggressively pushed their backers to vote for Paul.
But this year's results aren't likely to thin the WH field. Next year's CPAC straw poll, when the midterm elections will be safely in the rearview mirror, will be seen as the first major test of organizational strength.
Paul's support in '08 came in some part from college students. CPAC attendees are largely younger, and 48% of attendees said they were still students.
But while the sense of optimism at this weekend's convention was palpable, attendees are not completely thrilled with the GOP. 37% said they were dissatisfied with GOP leaders in Congress, the poll showed, and RNC chair Michael Steele had a net-negative rating -- just 42% have a favorable view of the RNC chair, while 56% see him unfavorably.
"They should not take this movement for granted by any stretch of the imagination," Fabrizio said.
It seems that the students were the main voters in the straw poll. For whatever reason the gray hairs failed to vote. That is why Paul won. My personal opinion is that the gray hairs weren't excited about any of the names on the ballot. I'm with them!
Ron Paul won because he was the only true conservative that spoke at CPAC, not some neoconservative hack. Glenn Beck basically just rehashed Ron Paul's speech. For example, Ron Paul discussed Woodrow Wilson often during his CPAC speech on Friday, and some commentators called this strange, rambling, and off-target. Yet when the neocon Glenn Beck talked about Woodrow Wilson, this was considered "compelling and informative" by various neocon commentators. If you actually looked at Ron Paul's voting record in Congress, you would see that he has been the most consistent man in Congress over the last 20 years. He was also warning about the economic crisis for years, and none of the hacks in Washington listened, rather they dismissed him as some type of nut, for instance Fox News wouldn't let him participate in one of the 2008 primary debates, even though he was polling ahead of many people they allowed in the debate. Why? Because the neoconservatives hijacked the Republican party in the late 80's and have been feverishly working to keep that foreign aid money flowing to Israel. They are essentially little more than Israeli agents. Ron Paul 2012, End the Federal Reserve.