The apologists for debt, deficits and bailouts will try to explain it away, but Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll for the second year in a row, with record levels of participation this year. Paul got 30% of the vote with the pro-TARP Mitt Romney coming in second with 23%. Interestingly, Gary Johnson and Chris Christie came in 3rd and 4th with each receiving 6%. Add their votes to Ron Paul's and that means that 42% of the votes were directed at candidates who want to shrink the size and scope of government, and who are opposed to government bailouts.
In the clip below, American Conservatie Union chairman, David Keene, goes out of his way to talk down the importance of the results, but the next speaker, Tony Fabrizio, seems to get it. There is a revolution underway, both in the Republican party and in politics at large. Stay tuned...
Here's the clip...
Video - CPAC 2011 straw poll results announced - Feb. 12, 2011
Results announced at 9:15. Crowd goes wild - some booing, mostly cheers.
- Watch Ron Paul's victory speech from last night...
- Watch Donald Trump criticize Paul and get booed mercilessly...
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Dr. Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll Again
For the second consecutive year, libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) breezed to victory Saturday in the CPAC straw poll — a sign of the intense following he enjoys and the waning relevance of the surveys.
The results this year were nearly identical to last year — Paul took 30 percent in 2011 and 31 percent in 2010 — and the response from the crowd was the same, as well. Outgoing American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene was jeered by Paul enthusiasts as he sought to downplay the results.
“It is what it is. It’s a straw poll,” Keene said before introducing pollster Tony Fabrizio, who conducted the survey. Fabrizio tried to put a positive spin on the survey that the organizers are plainly embarrassed about, noting before announcing the results that attendees agree upon the size of government being a top priority.
Yet, even before the pollster could disclose the news, someone in the audience yelled: “Ron Paul!” The congressman’s supporters let out a loud cheer while his detractors booed just as loudly.
The same pattern took place when Fabrizio actually announced that Paul had won except as the pollster begin to explain the results a man yelled: “Now you’re going to minimize it!”
Mitt Romney was Paul’s nearest competition in the past two years, trailing the congressman by 9 percent last year and 7 percent this year.
Faring not as well are two Republicans who consistently poll near the top of many early presidential surveys: Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. Both took less than 5 percent.
One of the candidates they’d like to see run is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Even though he has said repeatedly that he’s not running, Christie got 6 percent of the vote, that’s more than Palin, Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, John Thune and Haley Barbour.
As telling was whenever speakers mentioned Christie’s name from the podium, he won applause. Speaking Saturday night, conservative provocateur Ann Coulter won loud cheers when she said: “If we don’t run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee, and we’ll lose.”
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Paul Not Yet Pleased With GOP: 'Big Government Is Alive And Well'
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), perhaps the most "at home" of any elected official at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, told The Huffington Post in a brief interview that he remains fundamentally unsatisfied with his party leadership's approach to governance.
Speaking at the entrance of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, where the conference is being held, just before a throng of reporters and supporters descended upon him, Paul said it was "too early to determine how dedicated" Republican leaders are when it comes to spending cuts.
On Thursday, those leaders were forced to host an emergency meeting to find ways to placate their Tea Party faction on a stopgap budget measure to keep the government running. Republican lawmakers emerged from that meeting saying they had identified ways to reduce the proposed 2011 budget by $100 billion.
"I'm doubtful that there will be very many real cuts," he said, though he acknowledged that he hadn't yet seen the final proposal. "They are not going to slash the budget. We don't have the votes and people don't have the stomach for it. That's a hard job cutting. Nobody wants their budget cut. Big government is alive and well."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/ron-paul-cpac-speech_n_822132.html
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Further reading on Gary Johnson...