Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Still Has No Chance of Being President
Rand Paul wins the CPAC straw poll http://time.com/3727650/cpac-straw-poll-rand-paul-scott-walker/ On the Bonus Show: The World Health Organization on hearing loss and safe music levels,...
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Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Still Has No Chance of Being President - Video
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) won a straw poll of conservative activists, giving his potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 a boost. (Reuters)
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.
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Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll, with Scott Walker a close ...
For the third year in a row, Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky has won The Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll taken at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. His young libertarian legions made that possible again, as they did for Sen. Pauls father, former Rep. Ron Paul.
More interesting and likely more significant for the run-up to the 2016 presidential race is how well Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did as well as former Florida governor Jeb Bushs relatively mediocre showing.
Gov. Walker surged from sixth place in 2014 to second place this year, tripling his portion of the 3,007 votes spread among 17 candidates to 21.4 percent, not far behind Pauls 25.7 percent. The margin between the two was even closer (less than one percentage point) when first and second choices were tallied.
Mr. Bush, meanwhile, was back in fifth place, behind physician Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz as well as Paul and Walker.
When seen in light of this Crowdpac spectrum of a dozen potential GOP candidates, the results could have been predictable especially given CPACs gathering of activists from the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Least conservative here is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, with Bush judged to be only slightly more conservative. Most conservative is Paul, with Cruz, Walker, and Carson not far behind. (Crowdpac is a political technology start-up that bases its rankings on an individuals voting record, campaign donations, and communications, including speeches and social media.)
Still, Bush who met with boos over his positions on immigration reform and the Common Core educations standards can claim to have met expectations at CPAC without any major gaffes.
Falling away behind Bush in the straw poll were former Sen. Rick Santorum and Sen. Marco Rubio. Gov. Christie won just under 3 percent of the vote and former Texas governor Rick Perry took barely more than 1 percent.
What would any election be without charges of vote manipulation serious or not?
The Pauls Ron and son Rand have done well in recent years by encouraging their libertarian followers to show up and of course vote. Nearly half those voting this year were ages 18-25.
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Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll again, but Scott Walker ...
YASP EP 13: Rand Paul #39;s Stupid Vaccine Views
Rand Paul has been a total dipshit... I asked Foxhole to handle this one for me... A Godless Engineering Special! So Rand Paul has some pretty fucking stupid...
By: Godless Engineer
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YASP EP 13: Rand Paul's Stupid Vaccine Views - Video
Story highlights Could President Obama's legacy include fixing Ferguson? Rand Paul, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton compete for Silicon Valley cash Will 2016 be the year of the super PAC election?
1. Winning CPAC once meant little, but are Rand Paul's multiple wins just the ticket?
Rand Paul won his third consecutive CPAC presidential straw poll this weekend, and most political journalists yawned -- and understandably so.
There have been 20 previous CPAC straw polls, and only in four of those cases has the winner ended up as the Republican presidential nominee. And in all four of those cases, it was in the actual election year.
Never has a winner in the year before the presidential vote -- like this year -- gone on to win the nomination. So Sen. Paul shouldn't rush to measure the White House drapes.
But he is now in special company: He's in a tie for CPAC wins (three) with Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. Mitt Romney is the all-time leader with four CPAC wins. Ron Paul has two.
So winning once is more or less meaningless, but winning twice or more? The Pauls -- Rand and Ron -- are the only two men with at least two CPAC wins who have not appeared on the GOP ticket. (Kemp was Bob Dole's VP nominee.)
It's one more way, we can assume, that Rand Paul hopes to get some separation from his dad heading into 2016.
2. POTUS hopes for action -- and legacy item -- in law enforcement arena
Washington will be consumed this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress and the continuing fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security.
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A CPAC history lesson: How Rand Paul could be like Ronald Reagan