Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Friday. He "won'' the CPAC straw poll on Saturday. (Photo by Cliff Owen / AP)
by Mark Silva
If there's anything less meaningless than a "straw poll'' in which 2,395 people -- the great majority of them 25 and younger -- voiced 31-percent support for Texas Rep. Ron Paul as a presidential contender, we'd like to know what that might be.
The outcome of the weekend head-count of some, but not all, of the people who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference here may say more about Mitt Romney and the Republican field in general than it says about Paul, however.
Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who gave Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona a run for his money (with a lot of Romney's own money) in the 2008 GOP presidential primaries, had carried the straw poll at the annual CPAC event for three years in a row -- 2006, '07 and '08.
But this time, Romney was finishing second -- with 22 percent of the straw ballots -- to Paul, who also ran for president as a Republican in '08 without much visible yet very vocal support, and claimed 31 percent of the 2010 CPAC straw vote.
Does this mean that Romney is yesterday's news? And Paul is hot?
No, it doesn't really mean much of anything about Paul or Romney, other than the fact that Paul's fans are better at stuffing a straw ballot box than Romney's fans are.
But it does speak to the Republican field in some ways: That a crowd of young political activists are more interested in a Ron Paul candidacy than they are energized by former Gov. Sarah Palin, who pulled 7 percent in the wekeend CPAC straw poll, or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who pulled 6 percent, suggests that the GOP is a party still in search of a leader. Which, after all, isn't a real news blast.
In this same straw poll, only 2 percent of the participants voiced approval for the job that President Barack Obama is doing, which is not surprising, but 70 percent voiced a favorable view of radio's Rush Limbaugh and FOX News' Glenn Beck, which is what it is.
With 10,000 registered at CPAC, just 2,395 participated in the straw poll. Almost half (48 percent) were students, more than half (56 percent) 25 years old or younger. Nearly two thirds ( 64 percent) were men. We didn't see an ethnic breakdown in the results, but we suspect we know the answer.
A crowd of angry young white men with enough energy to work a convention and a straw-poll campaign like Ron Paul as a political leader and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as spokesmen for their cause.
The GOP has its work cut out for it.
Comments
I heard on the radio that over 10,000 people attended the convention, and only 2,395 people felt it worth their time to vote - and 31% of that 2,395 voted for Ron Paul.
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What matters is if he runs for national office again, how many of those 2,395 people would vote for him then?
Posted by: BC | February 22, 2010 12:15 PM
The vast majority of Americans don't even know what CPAC is.
Posted by: UnfrozenCavegirlBlogger | February 22, 2010 12:29 PM
"If there's anything less meaningless than a "straw poll'' in which 2,395 people -- the great majority of them 25 and younger -- voiced 31-percent support for Texas Rep. Ron Paul as a presidential contender, we'd like to know what that might be."
It is this column.
Posted by: Ddrove | February 22, 2010 12:31 PM
It doesn't take much to be the "next" republican candidate for president. I would suspect Elmer Fudd would be next if only he could pronounce his Rs.
Posted by: bill r. | February 22, 2010 12:39 PM
Ron Paul wins the Wingnut straw poll?...HAHAHAHA!
Posted by: HHH | February 22, 2010 1:43 PM
Wonder how the frauds in the conservative loving corporate media will spin this chaos into their pre-determined "Dems divided, Repubs united" narratives?
The Repugs just nominated someone who is, for all intents and purposes, FROM A DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTY!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0
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Posted by: Michael Erickson | February 22, 2010 1:58 PM
GOP Generational Theft by Deception CPAC Glenn Beck Speaks! I LOVE DICK CHENEY! Did I tell ya, I LOVE DICK CHENEY! 4.9 Trillion Dollars later and no exit strategy! I LOVE DICK CHENEY! So what if it was just "Treason." Just a little! So what if it was just all a "LIE." Just a little! So what if it was always about "caging voters." Just a little! So what! So what! So what if they eavesdropped, datamined, and wiretapped americans "without a warrant." I LOVE DICK CHENEY! Sarah's the EVE in EEVS! She more than just electronic! Her hips, her thighs, they got us all so hypnotized! I feel drunk! I feel like it's my last step to being just drunk! So what if it was Theft! Choose! Choose! Choose! He's black! He's a marxist! He's a communist! He's Hezbollah! He's YOU LIE, Senator Joe Wilson, YOU LIE, brown skin, brown eyed SOCIALIST! Did I tell ya I LOVE DICK CHENEY! So what if 3800 men and women died when they LIED! It's strict eyed "conservatism" then, and now! Did I tell ya I LOVE DICK CHENEY!
Posted by: Roger Morris | February 22, 2010 2:27 PM
"Less meaningless?" Does that mean you can't think of anything more meaningFUL?
Posted by: Op109 | February 22, 2010 3:51 PM
Ron Paul would have gotten 40 or 50% if all 10,000 people voted. Romney should be thankful he only lost by 9 points.
Ron Paul 2012
Posted by: Ron Paul 2012 | February 22, 2010 4:13 PM
The article states, "We didn't see an ethnic breakdown in the results, but we suspect we know the answer. A crowd of angry young white men..." Imagine if you had substituted the word, "black," for white about a different candidate and a different political party. Imagine also the calls you would have received.
Posted by: Jerauld | February 22, 2010 4:43 PM
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO??!?!??!
*Only 39% of Americans have a favorable personal opinion of Barack Obama
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the latest New York Times/CBS News poll reports that only 39 percent had a favorable personal opinion of Obama. That's an 11-point drop since July and a 20-point drop since inauguration. For a politician whose success was predicated on a personal brand, that's a catastrophic fall.
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 22, 2010 5:22 PM
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 22, 2010 5:22 PM
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Leading is not a popularity contest you idiot otherwise Britney Spears would be a great President. TeaBagger trash!
Posted by: sensible | February 22, 2010 6:00 PM
OH, IS THAT WHAT YOU DEMS CALL IT, "LEADING"? GOOD ONE!!!!!! SPEAKING OF TRASH, WE'LL BE TAKING THAT OUT IN NOV. ENJOY!!!!!
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Leading is not a popularity contest you idiot otherwise Britney Spears would be a great President. TeaBagger trash!
Posted by: sensible | February 22, 2010 6:00 PM
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 22, 2010 7:06 PM
Britney and all of Hollywood couldn't do as much harm as this joker has in a year. Americans are tired of watching elite morons with political power dismantle our economy and flush our dollars while they tell us we need to cut back. The revolution will happen regardless of the accuracy of this straw poll. It may not be Ron Paul or in 2012 but eventually we will have leadership that is serious about fiscal responsibility and personal liberty.
Posted by: jonny lee | February 22, 2010 7:59 PM
Alternative caption:
"My doctor said 'Preparation.....'"
Posted by: ornery | February 22, 2010 9:42 PM
"...we suspect we know the answer."
Unbiased journalism at it's finest. According to this column, apparently only a certain ethnicity votes with the Constitution. Was that supposed to be a crack about the African-American literacy demograph? Only slightly inappropriate.
Posted by: Nathan | February 22, 2010 10:20 PM
bachmann bbc beck blitzer bolton breitbart
cheney coulter cspan gutfeld hannity horowitz
huckabee ingraham krauthammer kristol likud
limbaugh malkin north npr oreilly palin perry
potok rivera rove scarborough stossel susteren
The 5 dancing Israelis arrested on 9/11 in NYC
were very proud of the work of the Mossad.
(no more Twin Tower asbestos problem)
Ventura USN Sheehan Sanders Perot
Paul OathKeeper NamVet Nader Medina
McKinney Kucinich Kaptur Grayson Gravel
Gonzalez Fallon CoffeeParty Clemente
Choate Carter Baldwin Anderson
Posted by: NadePaulKuciGravMcKi | February 23, 2010 1:08 AM
They thought Gee-zues Kryst put GW Bush in the White House and that The Rapture was on it's way. they thought that all taxes would disappear and that prayer would return to the schools and that abortions would be illegal and that pot-smoking hippies would be thrown in jail and the National Parks would be open to gun-toting four-wheelers .... and none of it happened and THEY are pissed.
What are they going to do, face reality??? Not bloody likely!
Posted by: thebob.bob | February 23, 2010 1:34 AM
Internet radio host Alex Jones recently mentioned this outrageous effort by a pollster to portray Ron Paul as insignificant in the polls through outright sabotage. Jones was so outraged he suggested he might pay for a fair poll by an official polling firm and that he would determine which questions would be asked.
Posted by: acekards | February 23, 2010 2:52 AM