Rand Paul, Ted Cruz Top Caffeinated Thoughts Reader Straw Poll (Cruz leads in Iowa)

Caffeinated Thoughts completed a non-scientific poll of our readership from May 1-8, 2015. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) leads overall being first choice for just shy of 37% of those polled. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) leads among Iowan readers with almost 29% saying he is their first choice.

1. U.S. Senator Rand Paul – 36.8% 2. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz – 19.6% 3. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum – 11.2% 4. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry – 8.0% 5. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – 5.2% 6. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio – 4.0% 7. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee – 3.6% 8. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker – 3.2% 9. Former Neurosurgeon Ben Carson – 2.8% 10. Real estate mogul Donald Trump – 2.0% 11. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush – 1.6% 12. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina – 0.8%

13. (Tie) New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, and Ohio Governor John Kasich – 0.0%

1. Ted Cruz – 28.7% 2. Rick Perry – 16.6% 3. Rand Paul – 12.0% 4. Bobby Jindal – 9.3% 5. Marco Rubio – 6.4% 6. Mike Huckabee – 5.5% 7. Donald Trump – 4.6% 8. (Tie) Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Rick Santorum & Scott Walker – 3.7% 12. Carly Fiorina – 0.9% 13. (Tie) Chris Christie, Lindsey Graham, and John Kasich – 0.0%

1. Rand Paul – 14.8% 2. Scott Walker – 13.2% 3. Ted Cruz – 12.4% 4. Rick Santorum – 8.8% 5. Bobby Jindal – 6.4% 6. Ben Carson – 6.0% 7. (Tie) Rick Perry and Marco Rubio – 5.6% 9. Mike Huckabee – 5.2% 10. Carly Fiorina – 3.2% 11. John Kasich – 1.6% 12. Donald Trump – 1.2% 13. Lindsey Graham – 0.8% 14. (Tie) Jeb Bush and Chris Christie – 0.4%

11.2% of respondents said they were undecided about who their second choice would be.

Our poll consisted of 250 participants who identified themselves as likely Republican primary/caucus voters.

Paul led among males with 44% (who consisted of 60.8% of those who responded to our poll). Paul edged out Cruz among female readers – 25.5% to 23.4%. Paul was the clear choice among those voting from outside of Iowa with 55.6% saying they stand with Rand. It should be noted that Paul surged among non-Iowans on the last day. As of midnight on 5/8/15 Paul was in 5th place overall with 7.3%.

Evangelicals/Born Again Christians made up the largest religious segment (which is is clearly our readership base) making up 51.6% of those polled. Paul also edged out Cruz among those identifying themselves as part of this group – 27.9% to 25.6%. Catholics were the 2nd largest religious group with 17.2%. Santorum led this group with 32.5%. Mainline Protestants were the 3rd largest group with 11.2%. Paul leads this group of readers with 32.1%.

Paul led among all age groups. In terms of political ideology, those who identified themselves as conservative (which again reflects the base of our readership) was the largest group with 65.2%. Cruz lead this group with 23.9% with Santorum in 2nd place with 16.6%. Libertarians were the 2nd largest group in terms of political ideology with 29.6%. Paul overwhelming lead this group with 85.1% of libertarians polled.

We would like to thank those who participated. We will complete another poll this fall leading up to the Iowa Caucus.

The leading Democratic candidate:

Rand Paul On Shutdown: "Even Though It Appeared I Was Participating In It, It Was A Dumb Idea"
I said throughout the whole battle that shutting down the government was a dumb idea. Even though it did appear as if I was participating in it, I said it was a dumb idea. And the reason I voted for it, though, is that it's a conundrum. Here's the conundrum. We have a $17 trillion debt and people at home tell me you can't give the president a blank check. We just can't keep raising the debt ceiling without conditions. So unconditionally raising the debt ceiling, nobody at home wants me to vote for that and I can't vote for that. But the conundrum is if I don't we do approach these deadlines. So there is an impasse. In 2011, though, we had this impasse and the president did negotiate. We got the sequester. If we were to extend the sequester from discretionary spending to all the entitlements we would actually fix our problem within a few years.
[Posted on 11/19/2013 12:16:51 PM by Third Person]

Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance
...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said.
[Posted on 01/31/2013 5:08:50 PM PST by xzins]

Rand Paul's immigration speech
...The Republican Party must embrace more legal immigration.

Unfortunately, like many of the major debates in Washington, immigration has become a stalemate-where both sides are imprisoned by their own rhetoric or attachment to sacred cows that prevent the possibility of a balanced solution.

Immigration Reform will not occur until Conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution. I am here today to begin that conversation.

Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.

If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you...

This is where prudence, compassion and thrift all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the shadows and into being taxpaying members of society.

Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers.12 million more people assimilating into society. 12 million more people being productive contributors.
[Posted on 03/19/2013 7:04:07 AM PDT by Perdogg]
Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reform
Latinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers...
[Posted on 04/21/2013 1:52:42 PM PDT by SoConPubbie]
[but he's not in favor of amnesty, snicker, definition of is is]

Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt's Generals: 'How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?'
Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt's military -- even as Cairo's security forces massacre anti-government activists. [by "anti-government activists" is meant church-burning Christian-murdering jihadists]
[Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat]

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