BIG UPSET TODAY! RON PAUL WINS CPAC STRAW POLL!
Several days ago I wrote about what I thought was this year’s straw poll – it may have been actually last years poll or perhaps a early test of strength but the CPAC straw poll, won for the last three years by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, was won overwhelmingly by Congressman Ron Paul!
Paul captured 31% of the activists (and I wasn’t even there to help!) at CPAC, beating Romney by 9 points and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by 24 points (she got 7%). This is an amazing turnout. The conservative activists had mixed feelings about the results.
Pro:
With participants naming “reducing the size of federal government” as their top issue, the 74-year old libertarian hero captured 31 percent of the 2,400 votes cast in the annual contest, usually seen as a barometer of how the GOP’s conservative wing regards their potential presidential candidates.
Con:
The announcement of Paul’s win, a surprise victory unlikely to have a major impact on the 2012 presidential contest, drew a volley of loud boos from the CPAC audience.
That discontent could be seen in the poll results: A majority of participants said they wished the Republican Party had a better field of candidates to choose from.
But I disagree with CNN’s analysis: I think this WILL have an impact on the 2012 race. The better test is the CPAC poll for next year. I would think that Lord willing Paul will win again going away. Paul does not change his views and has been a paragon of integrity in Congress. He is also a social conservative. Young activists realize we are running out of time to change the course of our country.
