Rand Paul wins 2014 CPAC straw poll, Ted Cruz finishes a distant second

The Associated Press ^ | 03-08-2014 | Stephen Dinan

[PaulCruz2016]

Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote -- nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz.

Mr. Cruz's 11 percent was still a big improvement for the freshman senator, who won just 4 percent in last year's straw poll. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth with 8 percent in results that signal growing discontent with the GOP establishment in Washington.

Indeed, CPAC voters now have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress, with 51 percent saying they disapprove of the job the GOP is doing on Capitol Hill. Just last year the GOP had a 54 percent approval rating, and in 2012 they held a 70 percent approval rating.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Bingo!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We all remember President Paul...

[Zenjitsuman]

Pauliacs are very well organized. Paul won many presidential straw poll states, but in elective states he didn’t do squat

[Longbow1969]

How many Paulestinians did they bus in?

The Paul's are good at winning meaningless straw polls.

If straw polls meant anything, old kooky Ron would be President for life.

[eclecticEel]

Of course straw polls never mean anything.

[2ndDivisionVet]

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Actually, Cruz #2 at 11% is great news, considering this is CPAC.

[1rudeboy]

Thanks. I laughed at the headline, too (I know, Rand not Ron, but still).

[Nifster]

I sure wouldn’t be crowing over this....Romney one the 2012 CPAC straw vote

[spacejunkie2001]

is there a streaming link for Palin?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-— RAND PAUL 29.91% (24,034 votes)
TED CRUZ 29.42% (23,637 votes)-—

Thanks for making my Saturday.

[montanajoe]

Paul is not a Conservative. I wont vote for any candidate who is not a Conservative..just like last time.

[Longbow1969]

Pauliacs are very well organized. Paul won many presidential straw poll states, but in elective states he didn’t do squat

The cult of Paul is very good at bringing a small group of energized people out to win presidential straw polls, but they pretty much flop when it comes to actual primaries. Perhaps Rand will be different, but I highly doubt it. Rand won't be the nominee, though I expect he will be more competitive than his father.

[2ndDivisionVet]

RAND PAUL 30.01% (25,110 votes)

TED CRUZ 29.32% (24,533 votes)

SARAH PALIN 4.97% (4,160 votes)

CHRIS CHRISTIE 4.96% (4,153 votes)

Here endeth the lesson

[re_nortex]

Everything worth knowing about Rand Paul is summed up quite succinctly, in just a few letters, by the founder of America's forum for Conservative activism, Mr. Jim Robinson. Our host has an uncanny ability to separate the pretenders from the real deal and has long been onto the fraud that is Rand's old man. As a guest here, I'm on board with what our host has clearly stated. Like father, like son really does apply in this case.

Go Sarah go! As for me, I find Paul (both of them) appalin' and Palin appealin'.

[cripplecreek]

While I prefer Cruz on top I think its going to take both of them to win.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I’ve worked several Iowa caucuses, one as a campaign advance man and one as a party functionary. People have NO IDEA the effort required to get your people to those little meetings all over 99 counties. If the Ron Paul supporters were as organized as they claim to be, they’d have pulled off a surprise win there.

[deport]

 
2%  Former AK Governor Sarah Palin
2%  Former AR Governor Mike Huckabee
2%  Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice
2%  LA Governor Bobby Jindal
3%  TX Governor Rick Perry
3%  WI Congressman Paul Ryan
6%  FL Senator Marco Rubio
7%  Former PA Senator Rick Santorum
7%  WI Governor Scott Walker
8%  NJ Governor Chris Christie
9%  Neurosurgeon Ben Carson
11% TX Senator Ted Cruz
31% KY Senator Rand Paul
9%  Undecided 
1%  Other 
 

[TitansAFC]

Absurd.

“Paul” wins every straw poll and online poll, every time. There’s not even a point to having them.

Cruz is the Conservative favorite right now.

[Monterrosa-24]

Yes, old man Ron Paul won many a CPAC straw poll. I was there in 2009 and he won that year. I voted for Palin.