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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took the top spot for the third year in a row at Saturdays Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, edging out Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) as the favorite in the last CPAC presidential preference contest before primary voting begins.

Paul had been the prohibitive favorite heading into this years balloting, which featured 17 candidates. More than 3,000 attendees voted, a 20 percent increase over 2014's turnout.

Hundreds of Paul fans had streamed in from across the country for the multi-day event in National Harbor, Md -- but his percentage of the vote actually dropped, to 25.7 percent, from 31 percent in 2014. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) had made a major effort, sponsoring buses that brought supporters in from Washington, D.C. to Maryland and paying entry fees for some supporters a push that brought him a fifth-place showing. Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.), who drew a significant level of grassroots excitement at the conference with a strong performance in his Friday address, drew 21.4 percent of the vote, dramatically and improving on his fifth place showing last year. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who finished second to Paul in 2014, drew 11.5 percent of the vote, roughly the same as he had in 2014.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who boasted a swell of grassroots support at CPAC, came in fourth place. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in 10th place, with 2.8 percent of the vote.

Organizers said the results showed "how fluid and open the race is."

A candidates popularity with the Conservative Political Action Conference hasnt necessarily been a great predictor of his or her success with the larger GOP electorate, as attendees tend to have a stronger libertarian bent than the Republican majority. The Kentucky senator had won the CPAC straw poll in 2013 and 2014, and his father former Texas congressman Ron Paul won in 2010 and 2011. Mitt Romney won in 2012.

But that isnt really the point of CPAC anyway.

The event which is sponsored by think tanks, conservative Web sites and influential interest groups like the National Rifle Association is really more about theater, a forum for budding presidential candidates to road-test ideas. And in that regard, this years gathering did not disappoint.

Some of the excitement had to do with the fact that organizers changed the format of the event from previous years. Rather than just deliver speeches, candidates were expected to take questions from the audience a twist that helped some candidates, but hurt others.

Walker, who tops many polls, made headlines for appearing to draw a parallel between his fight in 2011 against public sector unions and the challenge the United States faces in combating the Islamic State, the militant group that has taken responsibility for beheadings, burnings and other savagery. Commentators shook their heads at the implicit comparison between Wisconsin citizens exercising their right to free speech by protesting with terrorists. A spokeswoman for the governor later clarified that he was in no way comparing any American citizen to ISIS. She continued, What the governor was saying was when faced with adversity he chose strength and leadership.

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Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll, with Scott Walker a close second

TIME Politics 2016 Election 5:40 PM ET Updated: 6:47 PM ET Mark PetersonRedux for TIME Rand Paul speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.

Sen. Rand Paul won the Conservative Political Action Conference for the third year in a row, but the real action was in second place, where Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took the honors.

Pauls victory, with 26% percent of the vote, was widely expected due to the throngs of young, libertarian-minded attendees. (He won 25% of the vote in 2013 and 31% in 2014.) But Walkers second-place win showed the Midwesterners growing credibility among conservatives.

In securing 21% of the vote, Walker is sure to ignite more buzz as he seeks to appeal to both the partys wealthy elite and its conservative base. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may be dominating the fundraising primary, but Walker is picking up support among the partys grassroots.

Walkers continued rise has only pressured the more moderate Chris Christie, who placed 10th with the unfriendly audience and is finding his path to the nomination narrowed by Walker and Bush.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose fiery brand of conservatism appeals particularly to the CPAC attendee, placed third with 12% of the vote.

But the straw polls results are hardly predictive of the GOP primaries, providing only a murky window into the polarized political party. Only registered attendees are provided a code with which to vote, turning campaign staffers and volunteers into temporary travel agents.

Bush came in fifth with 8% of the vote. He faced a skeptical crowd at CPAC, where the conservative base views the Bush heir as an establishment figure backed by Washington D.C.s power brokers. Many view his support of the Common Core education standards and immigration reform with suspicion, and his appearance on Friday punctuated was by heckles and jeers.

Busing in supporters to pack the audience and juice the vote in the straw poll is a longstanding CPAC tradition. On Friday crowds of young students descended on the Convention Center, bused in by Bush allies who helped them obtain passes to the conference when he spoke.

Paul and Cruzs PACs organized discounted registrations and hotel rooms nearby for young attendees, who play an outsized role in swaying the polls results.

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Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Scott Walker Takes Second

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, seems to have no problem contradicting himself. The self-proclaimed constitutional conservative is typically lost in libertarian thought leading him to make inflammatory sexist, racist and overbearingly hypocritical comments on nearly every issue he faces. Whether hes attempting to police womens bodies, ignoring police brutality for stingy tobacco taxes, or speaking out against vaccines and posting himself receiving booster shots only days later, Ron Pauls son is one politician you can unabashedly hate or enjoy laughing at.

1. When Paul spoke outagainst vaccines:

I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.

Click to enlarge.

Rand Paul /Twitter

2. When he backedvoter ID laws:

I dont think theres a problem with showing your ID, but I do think theres a problem with Republicans saying, Hey, our big issue for the campaign is going to be voter ID, because what it creates is a lot of African-Americans understandably remember the 40s and 50s in the South, and they remember suppression of the vote.

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21 Rand Paul quotes that expose libertarianism for the con ...

Today we are going to unveil that we are returning $500,000 to the Treasury. We invited several representatives of taxpayers from around the state to receive this check. This is a check for $500,000, or representative of $500,000, that we are returning from our office budget to the Treasury.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking at a news conference, Jan. 13, 2012

Senator Rand Paul returns $480,000 to U.S. Treasury from Office Budget, has returned $1.8 million since taking office.

headline on Rand Paul news release, Feb. 20, 2015

A reader spotted a news item about Sen. Rand Pauls annual announcement that he has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds and returned it to the Treasury. He wondered how accurate that statement was, and so we decided to look into it.

Theres actually less to this claim than meets the eye one made by not just Paul but a number of lawmakers. But Paul certainly makes a big deal out of it, including the visual image of a giant check made out to The U.S. taxpayer.

The money that every lawmaker receives is subject to annual appropriations, just like funds for the executive branch. As part of that allotment, each lawmaker in the House receives a members representational allowance (MRA), and each senator receives a senators official personnel and office expense allowance (SOPOEA).

The money is intended to be used for office and staff expenses; the procedures and formulas for determining the amount for each lawmaker are slightly different in each legislative body.

The average amount for House members was $1.255 million in fiscal year 2014, while senators will receive an average of$3.24 million in fiscal year 2015, according to the Congressional Research Service. Few lawmakers spent every cent of their allotment, and some (especially in the Senate) leave hundreds of thousands of dollars unspent.

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Did Rand Paul really return money to the Treasury ...

TIME Politics 2016 Election Rand Paul Just Lost the Bulgaria Primary Andrew HarrerBloomberg/Getty Images Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, listens to a question during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, Feb. 27, 2015. U.S. ally hits back after the presidential hopeful's dismissive remark

Bulgaria has a bone to pick with Rand Paul.

The countrys Embassy in Washington hit back Friday at comments the Republican presidential hopeful made earlier this week, in which he seemed to dismiss the countrys importance while mounting an attack against Hillary Clinton.

It goes without saying that Senator Rand Pauls remark is inappropriate, the Bulgarian embassy in Washington told TIME in a statement. His dismissive attitude towards a US and NATO ally and a friendly country and his foreign policy record is to be judged by the American people.

Paul on Wednesday reiterated his criticism of the former Secretary of State for not paying more attention to the situation on the ground in Libya ahead of the September, 2012 attack on a Benghazi compound that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Clinton has said she didnt read a diplomatic cable requesting increased security at the compound.

MORE: Republicans Rediscovering Their Old Hawkish Message on Foreign Policy

I could expect her not to read the cables from Bulgaria, Paul told Yahoo on Wednesday. But absolutely its inconceivable she didnt read the cables coming from Benghazi.

Bulgaria had kinder words for Clinton.

Not that long time ago Secretary Clinton was on an official visit to Bulgaria, the embassy added, referring to a 2012 visit by the now-presumptive Democratic presidential front-runner. She stays engaged with us and is very well aware of the geopolitical realities of the region.

Pauls campaign declined to comment Friday on the Bulgarian embassys statement. He has long seized on Clintons tenure at the State Department and the Benghazi attack in particular as fodder for criticism and to tout his anti-interventionist, libertarian foreign policy ahead of a likely presidential run. Last year, for example, he came out swinging at a talk in Kentucky by pointing to the State Departments spending bill on embassy dcor.

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Rand Paul Just Lost the Bulgaria Primary