Posted on 09/26/2015 3:16:50 PM PDT by VinL
The results are in at the Values Voter Summit -- and, for once, Donald Trump fails to top a conservative poll.
The straw poll at the summit, a conservative gathering hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., showed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz winning over voters, leading the pack for the third year in a row.
Cruz, with 35 percent of support, was followed by neurosurgeon-turned-politician Ben Carson, with 18 percent of the vote. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in third, drawing 14 percent of supporters, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 13 percent.
Play Video Why so thin-skinned, Donald Trump?
Registering at fifth place on the survey results: Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner in many state and national polls.
The religious conservatives in attendance simply weren't buying what Trump had to offer. Despite bringing his Bible on stage when addressing the audience, Trump registered at only 5 percent. Trump was even booed at the summit when he slammed Rubio over his immigration policies and called him a "clown."
Below Trump, Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina came in with 4 percent and 3 percent of the vote, respectively.
Trump's low support among the conservative evangelical base will come as no surprise for those following the billionaire's presidential campaign. Trump has been known to flout convention when it comes to wooing the religious right, even admitting once that he was "not sure" that he had ever asked God for forgiveness.
"If I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right, I don't bring God into that picture," Trump said in July at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.
Still, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, who announced the summit's results, said that Trump's fifth place showing was still "pretty good."
Of the issues most important to attendees, the top three included protecting religious liberty, advocating against abortion rights and protecting "natural marriage."
Carson, with 25 percent of the vote, was the first choice for the vice-presidential slot.
At least 2,700 registered participants attended the summit.
Surprised Rand Paul didn’t win. His dad was a master at stacking the deck in straw polls.
This is the crowd that booed Trump for calling Rubio a clown
I would have cheered Trump
Rubio, speaking in Spanish, thinking nobody knew Spanish, and thinking he could get away with backing Amnesty again (flip flop).
Rubio backing a position he had when in the gang of 8, then repudiating and lying to us all. Now Rubio got caught.
He cannot get over that his family is Cuban.
Trump is right this guy Rubio is a lying CLOWN and worse yet
AN ASS CLOWN.
Trump will be a great VP for Cruz. He can take on the attack dog role well, while Cruz knows how to be presidential. Cruz is the proven conservative, and Trump can learn from him. Maybe after eight years Trump will have the conservative creds to continue Cruz’s work.
Non conservatives usually don't make a big splash in the primaries.
Trump will never take the VP role. He is the one with execitive experience.
He already said he will go back and enjoy life with his large family.
“It is something the Cruz bashers like to use on every Cruz thread.”
I just noted his freakin’ vote. Is recounting his vote bashing?
“Liberals on FR like to talk down popular and proven conservatives.”
How does noting Cruz’s votes make me a liberal? It does make Cruz supporters resort to name-calling; that is all they have.
Watch the video. I couldn’t tell if they were booing TRUMP or booing RUBIO, but when you watch the whole speech, it’s clear they were booing Rubio. Even Frank Luntz said so.
Again, Cruz will come in fourth. Carson may be appealing for now, but HE-—and not Trump-—will be the one to fade when his “specifics” aren’t so specific. Still waiting on his gun plan, his immigration plan, his . . . .
All right... well, good luck to you and Donald, we’ll wait til Super Tuesday and see how you predictions hold.
I will visit Trump threads to “note” which parts of Planned Parenthood Trump likes fund. Or I could note why Trump is weak on property rights. I could also note that Trump does not have a problem whatsoever with gay marriage being shoved down our throats.
When they included Rubio, I knew this was a misguided bunch.
Yeah. We would know before then. If Trump takes all four early ones-—IA, NH, NV, and SC-—you won’t have to wait for Super Tuesday.
Uh-huh. Like last time around, when Romney won the moderates...we won big then./S
What we need is someone who can articulate why conservatism is the best hope for all people, like Ronald Reagan did (hence the term, Reagan Democrats). When we do that, we win.
What a joke. It was a worthless straw poll. Those and a couple of dollars will get you a cup of coffee.
I'm sure Trump will take losing a straw poll in exchange for leading in all the real polls.
I agree with that- not sure about the Cruz VP thing— Cruz HAS TO be declared the winner of the SEC primaries, if not then, imo, best he can do is silver.
Two conservative gatherings and Trump didn’t win either of them. In this one, his showing was pathetic.
A cursory analysis of this might lead someone to believe that conservatives (at least those who are devoted to the cause enough to go to those gatherings) do not think Trump represents them.
Lol. I just have to visit Trump threads from a month or so ago to gather all the wailing and whining posts regarding Cruz posters who "noted" Trump's liberalism.
Nope. He ain't gonna win without the Christian Right, ergo, he ain't gonna win.
This is a telling poll, because the Value Voters generally measures how a candidate will do with the Christian Right, and it seems to me, with no surprise, that the Conservative in the room won hands down. As with all other factions, the Christian Right will gladly vote for Cruz.
Better bank on Cruz, because he is the one most likely to get all Conservative factions to vote for him... Unlike the populist, whose conviction is as shallow as his speeches.
Like Cruz said at the Values Voters Summit, when we unite, we win.
Let’s unite behind a solid Constitutional conservative.
Well, if his ego is that big, then he should stay home. We already have a problem with oversized egos.
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