Rep. Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll
Washington (CNN) - The results of the Washington Times CPAC straw poll of presidential candidates are in, and the winner is Texas Rep. Ron Paul, with 30 percent of the vote. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the runner-up with 23 percent.
There were 3,742 ballots cast in the annual survey, which is a chance for devotees to name their pick for president in 2012. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they were generally satisfied with the field of potential candidates and 43 percent said they wished the GOP had a better field of potential candidates. For those surveyed, the size of the federal government was the most important issue to them.
CPAC is an annual gathering of conservatives, which this year served as the first cattle-call of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates.
The full results:
Texas Rep. Ron Paul: 30 percent
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: 23 percent
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson: 6 percent
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: 6 percent
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: 5 percent
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: 4 percent
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: 4 percent
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels: 4 percent
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: 3 percent
Former talk show host Herman Cain: 2 percent
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: 2 percent
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum: 2 percent
South Dakota Sen. John Thune: 2 percent
U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman: 1 percent
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour: 1 percent
Others: 5 percent
Undecided: 1 percent
Mitch Daniels ties with Michelle Bachman! Love it. Mitch Daniels would be BY FAR the toughest for Obama to beat.
Great! His poll numbers are almost as dismal as Palin's! Obama will be re-elected in 2012, and this is just more proof of that...
For what it is worth, I would have voted Ron Paul as well had I been there. Congrats to the honorable Paul and to Gary Johnson my former governor for his third place finish.
he and Romney are the most coherent of this bunch- bachman and palin? please........
Ron Paul? Maybe the Republicans got back their common sense!
Hasn't Ron Paul won every straw poll he's been in in recent history?
I voted for Ron Paul the last time around and then found out they don't even count write-in votes in a lot of states.
The establishment is scared of Ron Paul because he represents real change, not faux change.
Huckabee, Romney, and Christie actually have a chance at winning. The rest of them are either crazy extremists, dumb, or just too angry to attract support.
Nothing to see here.. Ron Paul always buses in fanatics to CPAC to vote for him. Nobody outside of a small core think he's at all normal.
Looks like a Paul/Romney ticket might work.
I believe it'd be better for Ron Paul to be at the top than Sarah Palin. The man doesn't fall neatly into the Republican party ideal as he takes a more Libertarian approach on a lot of things. I vote either way since I don't believe in the merits of either party, and would be more likely to vote for a stand out candidate than someone who spouts the same old same old.
How many straw poll winners (from CPAC) became the republican nominee?
Wish more main stream people would listen to this man he has been consistent in his message and right most of the time. What he says people do not always like but the truth is the truth. Just follow and listen for awhile and think about what he says even study on it. You may find yourself for him quicker than you think.
The CPAC straw poll confirms it: the party faithful are a bunch of wingnuts.
He needs to be our President to restore all of the wrongdoings of a supposed democracy. There was a revolution in Egypt; now there needs to be a r[LOVE]ution in the USA! Ron Paul 2012!
Sadly, the only place he wins.
Obama has a chance against this guy.
Is it too early for a write in candidate?
Way to go Ron! You beat the social conservative scum! Ron Paul's message of freedom and prosperity is catching on, he is the only republican with a real plan going forward and really the only one who can beat Obama. I can't wait to see an Obama Paul debate, Barack would be stumbling while Ron Paul tells America the truth. I ask my anti war liberal friends to join us and let's end these wars, finally kill the patriot act, and stop running a global military empire we cannot afford while still honoring our promises made to the American people. We can carve a sustainable path going forward with a true servant, statesman, and economic genius like Ron Paul!
Romney is the best chance the GOP has of reclaiming the White House. More than anybody else, Romney understands how the economy works, and what it will take to get America's economy running on all cylinders.
Romney 2012!!!
Again, he usually wins this. Wish he could win the GOP primary... He's one Republican I would vote for! Wrote him in in 08...
This simply shows you that among those on the right that CPAC pull in even those far more right then most. Ron Paul wins high votes here but would not (and has not) with polls of the entire right populace.
Nobody payed any attention to CPAC for so many years...why is it in the news so much now? Because the right is a lose cannon these days....
While I don't agree with Ron Paul on many things, he is the only one of the pack that has any integrity.
I wish the media took Ron Paul seriously. He raises a lot of money and is popular with a growing segment of Americans who want fiscal responsibility and limited government in the social realm, I don't understand how major media outlets can just brush him off.
Happy to see that Palin is on the bottom of the list 🙂
Trump is right, Ron Paul can't get elected. These right wing whackos can pay lip service to themselves and get absolutely NO WHERE when it comes to getting someone elected. What a complete waste of time! How about doing something that's going to create some jobs like all of you said you were going to do?