Ron Paul wins Conservative Leadership Conference Straw Poll

Political Derby - Conservative Leadership Conference ^ | October 13th, 2007 | Stephen Fountain

[Calpernia]

BREAKING NEWS! Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has won the inaugural Conservative Leadership Conference straw poll. Despite not appearing at the conference, Paul won convincingly with 33% of the vote. Mitt Romney, who addressed the conference in a town hall meeting and during a general session, finished second with 16%. Duncan Hunter, who also delivered a major address during the three-day event, finished third at 15%.

The Full Results:

Ron Paul 32.80%

Mitt Romney 16.13%

Duncan Hunter 14.52%

Undecided 11.29%

Fred Thompson 7.53%

Rudy Giuliani 6.45%

Alan Keyes 3.76%

Mike Huckabee 3.23%

Tom Tancredo 1.61%

John McCain 1.08%

Other 1.08%

Sam Brownback 0.54%

[Old 300]

All of this is incredibly important. The borders are and have been much more critical.

[Calpernia]

The Conservative Leadership Conference was sponsored by:

Exhibitors:

American Civil Rights Institute

Freedom Works

Blog Aught

Avalon Podcasting

NetCompetition

DCI Group

Citizens United

New Media Alliance

Outright Libertarians

Leadership Institute

National Rifle Association

National Taxpayers Union

National Cable Communications

Sam Adams Alliance

Libertarian Party

National Voter Outreach

Maximize Liberty

RunPolitics.com

Blog Talk Radio

Ron Paul 2008

Confirmed Speakers were:

* Mitt Romney, Candidate for President of the United States
* Duncan Hunter, Candidate for President of the United States
* South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
* Congressman John Shadegg :: Honorary Chair
* Rep. Dean Heller of Nevada
* Grover G. Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform
* Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Freedom Works
* Former Congressman Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party
* Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth of Citizens United
* Former Ambassador Jerry Carmen
* Glen Caroline of the National Rifle Association
* Mickey Barnett, Postal Board of Governors
* Frank Fahrenkopf of American Gaming Association
* Rich Galen of Mullings.com
* Adrian "Good Morning, Vietnam!" Cronauer
* David Keene of the ACU
* Mark Hyman
* Paul Jacob of Citizens in Charge
* Author/conservative fundraising guru Richard Viguerie
* Jo Ann Davidson, Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee (withdrew)
* Bill Redpath, National Chairman, Libertarian Party
* Shannon Reeves of the RNC’s African-American Leadership Council
* Kerri Houston, U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission
* Libertarian presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root
* Rick Berman of the Center for Union Facts
* Israel Teitelbaum of Parents for Free Choice in Education
* Author and syndicated columnist Doug Bandow
* Author Leslie Sanchez
* Mark Montini
* John Berthoud, President of the National Taxpayers Union
* Steve Moore of Wall Street Journal
* John Fund of Wall Street Journal
* Steven Greenhut of Orange County Register
* Erick Erickson of RedState.org
* Documentary filmmaker Evan Coyne Maloney
* “Blogging Tips” author Lorelle van Fossen
* Rick Arnold of National Voter Outreach
* Charles Bell of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP
* Susan Johnson of National Voter Outreach
* “Blue Collar Muse” blogger Ken Marrero
* “Adam’s Web” blogger Adam Graham
* Jason Wright of PoliticalDerby.com
* Chris Simcox of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
* Richard Nadler of America’s Majority
* Jennifer Gratz of the American Civil Rights Institute
* Amanda Hydro of the Reason Foundation
* Scott Cleland of NetCompetition.org
* Talk show host Andrea Shea King
* Talk-show host Brian Wilson
* Talk-show host Sharon Hughes
* Chris Barron of Maximize Liberty
* Warner Todd Huston

[Calpernia]

Related thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1910857/posts
Duncan Hunter in Reno

[Allegra]

All of this is incredibly important. The borders are and have been much more critical.

Still no excuse for cutting and running.

[Old 300]

But the borders... very important. Critical. Can’t do anything about it? Sad, very sad. Where’s the representation in government? Can’t get it back? Lost republic? Sad... Too bad your candidates don’t have any solutions.

[DugwayDuke]

“(1) Support for Ron Paul is a lot deeper than most are willing to admit; or...”

Not really. Let’s do some math. According to Calpernia, Duncan Hunter missed out on 2nd place by two votes. The difference between 2nd and 3rd place was 0.0151, meaning that two votes equals 0.0150 votes. If that’s true, then only about 132 people participated in this poll. If that’s true, then Ron Paul got about 43 votes. Forty-three votes does not translate to wide support.

I grant you that the RP campaign is doing a fine job in making sure that RP supporters show up at straw polls. One can only wonder just how many ‘straw polls’ an individual RP supporter has voted in. Nothing wrong with that, but having a small, dedicated, and committed group of supporters does not equate to having ‘deep support’.

[Old 300]

Dedicated... to freedom.

[Allegra]

But the borders... very important. Critical. Can’t do anything about it? Sad, very sad. Where’s the representation in government? Can’t get it back? Lost republic? Sad... Too bad your candidates don’t have any solutions.

You don't know who my candidates are, but Ron Paul is not the only one who advocates tough immigration and border laws. And the other guys make sense.

Ron Paul is too lunatic fringe for me. For most of us.

[mad_as_he$$]

"Also, I had the misfortune of hearing Ron Paul and Alan Keyes speak. We all know Ron Paul has, well, walked off the reservation, but DANG, he’s starting to scare me!"

This is from a post by rscully on FR where she says RP did appear and speak. Who is right?

[mazda77]

“Our political system is out of control, and it’s time we took it back.”

So one sawed-off raving dweeb lecturing us from a podium is going to endear himself to the general public while calling them stupid to their faces. That will certainly drive up his chances of attracting voters. The problem sir is how to fix the idget public when they don’t have the capacity to realize they are intellectually broken. The general public was not dumbed down overnight and they won’t be enlightened as quickly either.

[rideharddiefast]

Define isolationist. Define defeatist.
Jimmy Carter?

Two peas in a pod Jimmy the Joke Carter and cut and run Paul.

[Old 300]

Ron Paul is too lunatic fringe for me. For most of us.

What's lunatic about seeking the restoration of the Republic. Even you admitted that our current system will not address border security, didn't you?

Freedom is radical. That's what the founding fathers were: radical for liberty.

[Paulus Invictus]

He has no prayer, no hope, no possibility of ever winning the primaries anywhere. So how can you be so optimistic? He’s a libertarian, not a conservative. One poll does not prove anything.

[DugwayDuke]

“Define isolationist. Define defeatist.” - Old 300

Let me ask you a couple of questions.
Do you agree with Ron Paul that the United States can be defended by a “few submarines” (which Ron Paul stated this week)?
Do you thnk any one who goes on record with such a statement can be considred a believer in a strong national defense?

Even Hillary Clinton is stronger on national defense than Ron Paul.

[Old 300]

So one sawed-off raving dweeb lecturing us from a podium is going to endear himself to the general public while calling them stupid to their faces.

Is that what you think about von Mises, or Ron Paul?

[Allegra]

That's what the founding fathers were: radical for liberty.

I don't imagine our founding fathers would have advocated foreign policy that pretty much invites attack nad would likely bring war to our shores.

Trust me, appeasing the enemy would NOT work.

[DugwayDuke]

Do you agree with Mises that we should return to the gold standard?

[Old 300]

Do you agree with Ron Paul that the United States can be defended by a “few submarines” (which Ron Paul stated this week)?

I didn't hear this comment, but it sounds very reasonable, yes. Our strategic nuclear weapons systems subs make a magnificent weapon of deterrence. Combined with the missile defense system that Ron Paul has continually supported, we are militarily secure. However, economically and in terms of immigration we are more insecure than ever. In terms of our foreign policy, we are made increasingly more insecure by the foibles of our continuous manipulation of the world around us beyond our ability to understand the consequences.

The biggest threat to our national security comes from our economic system, which has been perverted by a command economic system of central banking. With the biggest foreign challenger rocketing to incredible levels of economic growth (China), we simple cannot ignore the damage we have done to our system with fiat currency.

The second largest threat we face in terms of security is our abandonment of the United States Constitution in every aspect of government, in each branch, and in our foreign policy. A non-representational government (which we arguably have now) is simply an engine of tyranny out of control. This will get worse if we do not change our way.

Ron Paul is the only candidate offering that critical change of direction from the executive branch. His election alone will not be enough to save us, but it's a start.

Do you thnk any one who goes on record with such a statement can be considred a believer in a strong national defense?

Ron Paul's plans for our national defense will secure us much better than the current administration. It takes time to understand this, but one only need to consider their position on immigration and border security to realize this is a true statement.

[Old 300]

Do you agree with Mises that we should return to the gold standard?

Absolutely.

[Old 300]

Trust me, appeasing the enemy would NOT work.

But we do appease the Saudis.