Posted on 02/28/2009 2:26:06 PM PST by BarnacleCenturion
If the Republican Party’s conservative wing had the power to choose presidential nominees, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would be the hands-down choice.
For the third straight year, activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference chose Romney, a candidate in the 2008 primaries, as their future presidential favorite in a straw poll.
He won 20 percent of the straw poll vote.
A relative newcomer who has been much in the news came in second: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was favored by 14 percent of the conservatives at the annual Washington gathering.
Third place was a tie between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin , who was the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008 and former presidential candidate Ron Paul . Each was preferred by 13 percent of conference goers.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich placed fifth, with 10 percent of the straw poll vote.
By that standard more than 80% don’t want the others. Uh-huh.
“Well, some people might value private sector experience more than experience as a government bureaucrat.”
Yeah! George Soros for president!
“Ask Hucksters if they would rather have Romney right now, or Obama, and you will get a pregnant pause.”
would you vote for Huckabee over Obama in a heartbeat?
Romney didn’t win this. Neither did Palin, Huckabee, Gingrich, or Jindal. “None of the Above” won it.
I’d have to agree with those who voted “None of the Above.” Until and unless one of these potential candidates shows an ability to bring the various splintered groups together like Reagan did (and that will require disciplining the foul loudmouth supporters of each who constantly attack and insult Republicans who don’t agree with them), I’ll be scanning the horizon for a candidate who can do it.
He has to be seething at the results of this straw poll.
sw
Exactly. Don’t worry, we’ll take down that Socialist SCUM again just like we did last year.
“If the Republican Party’s conservative wing had the power to choose presidential nominees, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would be the hands-down choice. “
Someone should tell them. I think that wing flew away when McCain was nominated.
“Caved” is the expression
Yes, in a heartbeat.
You, would you vote for Romney now?
magic underwear crowd. Huckabee morons. Handle those snakes wisely.
“Seriously, the GOP is lurching from iceberg to iceberg looking for all the world like a stiff searching for a hole to fall in.”
If your view is formed from reading FR, it will be distorted.
If you remember Nixon was written off after 1960, only to win in 1968.
Or Reagan faiiled to get the nomination in 1976, but got it in 1980 and won.
Political adults don’t just repeat mantras, lurch from cult of personality to cult of personality, or think that chasing rinos out is an answer.
It took those two, two term GOP Presidents 4 to 8 years of preparation, to win.
Your friend is liberal....that is a good point to remember when listening to their comments about Palin.
Youre friend probably thinks Palin’s daughter should have had an abortion too...
You might ask to confirm.
Tolerating RINOs as our standardbearers got us to where we are today. How is that working anyway? Have you had enough change yet???
I’ll tell ya what. From now on, I will fight against any GOP candidate that is not at least pro-gun, pro-life and a fiscal conservative. If he (or she) is not 100% behind supporting ALL of my rights, he (or she) will get no quarter from me. Same thing goes for neocons.
I think Romney’s negatives are higher than most anyone else’s.
This line represents a bit of editorial license on the part of someone trying to make the convention and the straw poll more relevant. Twenty percent isn't "hands down" in anything. However, many conservatives are realizing that Mitt Romney was the best choice of what we had available in last year's primary, and if we were going to rerun the 2008 election in 2009, most of us would see Mr. Romney as the best choice this year.
I repeated these reasons a hundred times last year, but they are worth reviewing. Rudy Giuliani was a vocal public advocate for gun control, abortion, and homosexuality. While Mitt Romney went along with these things, he never tried to get in front of a microphone to attack those of who oppose them. If he had made an effort to attack us, he could have gotten as much microphone time as Rudy Giuliani. Romney-haters can always pull up a quote here or a quote there, but he was never a nationally prominent enemy in the way that Giuliani was. His willingness not to attack us on the national stage allows many of us to forgive the things he did to get along in Massachusetts. From the gang of 14 to campaign finance to immigration reform, John McCain had a history of stabbing conservatives in the back to curry favor with the media. Last fall, he learned how fleeting that favor really was. Again, I don't like all that Mitt Romney did to get along in Massachusetts, but he has never been our enemy on the national stage in the same way. Mike Huckabee was the only other nominal conservative with real executive experience, but his overall life shows less real executive talent than what Mitt Romney has shown. Mike Huckabee could have been a good president, but he sometimes seemed intent on playing Christian charity with tax dollars. His annoying habit of sucking up to John McCain made him hard to trust. Fred Thompson is a good actor, and he was good at acting conservative. His real performance as a senator was as a junior McCain, and he doesn't have any executive experience. He might have been fine as a president, but he just didn't impress many of us. I realize his most ardent supporters idolize him the way many people idolize SOBama, but the rest of us didn't see any advantage to him. The rest of the campaigns never got off the ground. I liked Duncan Hunter, but I gave up early when I realized that he couldn't win.
Looking forward, the GOP has some interesting young prospects. Sarah Palin has received the Dan Quayle treatment, and I don't know whether she could ever recover. I'd love to see her have a future, but maybe she's a lost cause. Bobby Jindal could be a great candidate as well, but I think he'd be making a mistake to run in 2012. If he wins in 2012 or 2016, he'd be the first Republican to win the presidency in over 100 years without significant private sector experience. Maybe that would be just one of many "firsts" for him, but maybe people need to realize that he's light in one qualification area that people usually expect from Republicans. I've read some good things about South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, but we're a long way from knowing whether he has or would want a chance at the presidency. The same is true of Eric Cantor. At one time, Tim Pawlenty would have had a chance with the GOP. Most of his support would come from moderates, but he might be acceptable enough to conservatives. If Franken steals Norm Coleman's senate seat, Pawlenty will never be forgiven by anyone in the party. Michael Steele will be visible for the next few years, but he's now serving as a party member and not an elected official. Party bosses simply aren't seen as viable presidential candidates the way that elected officials are. To be a viable candidate, he has to be elected as a governor. We have some possibilities, but at this point, none of them have much of a resume. Until they develop, Mitt Romney is likely to win more of these straw polls.
Given his age, the hatred that many feel for Mormons, and the general bad feelings that the whole party feels as a result of 2008, I don't think Mitt Romney will ever be nominated. If he runs, I'd be happy to consider supporting him. If he is nominated, I'll certainly support him in the general election. I think he's a good man, and he'll be seen as a leader of conservatives for the next few years. I don't think he'll ever be president.
Bill
To begin with, fewer than 25% of those attending CPAC even voted in the straw poll-—1757 out of 9000+. Also, over half of those voting were college students, and 60% of those were male. From what I could tell after my 3 days there, the Romney people were very well organized-—emailing supporters to make sure they voted in the straw poll. There was also a lot of talk about how Palin supporters who had registered for CPAC decided to skip it as she was no longer speaking. The surprising thing to me was how low Huckabee finished. He seemed to have college kids with signs everywhere.
When was the last time the CPAC straw poll winner actually got the nomination in the next go-round?
Xactly right imahawk! I had Duncan Hunter to win! He ended getting 1% of the Republican vote because...
Was he not versed in policy? Not from the Northeast?
The choice to be interested in politics is less than desirable if the public gets the impression that the candidates have already been chosen.
I voted for mccain in the general...I can vote for almost anyone now hehe
but seriously...can we finally pick a conservative for a change?
Y’r correct Al B., If I’d have been asked it would be one of two dozen conservatives who we all know and admire and who are NOT ANY OF THE USUAL SUSPECTS!
Heck, Rush’s First Address To The Nation gave plenty of guidance, in this regard.
Why don’t we list our own candidates?
If these activists are really favoring Romney then they are not really conservative activists. They are Republican activists.
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