BREAKING: ROMNEY WINS CPAC STRAW POLL, SANTORUM A CLOSE SECOND

Posted on | February 11, 2012 | 25 Comments

“It’s A Two-Man Race Now,” Stacy McCain declares

Earthquake Thursday in Vanuatu: A sign and a portent?

Just announced at CPAC: Mitt Romney wins 38% of the straw poll vote at CPAC, followed by Rick Santorum at 31%. Newt Gingrich placed third with 15% and perennial CPAC straw poll winner Ron Paul a distant fourth with 13%. More details in this article at the Washington Times.

Category: CPAC, Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Vanuatu

Comments

25 Responses to “BREAKING: ROMNEY WINS CPAC STRAW POLL, SANTORUM A CLOSE SECOND”

DaveO
February 11th, 2012 @ 5:06 pm

So it was Mitt at 38% and Anyone But Mitt at 59%

3% voted for Obama again?
Mortimer Snerd
February 11th, 2012 @ 5:38 pm

Could we wind up with a brokered convention? If so, who are some possibilities? Jeb Bush? Sarah Palin? Paul Ryan?

Anybody else….. Anybody? Bueller?
JeffS
February 11th, 2012 @ 7:23 pm

Ron Paul at 13%? Does he have no ardent supporters there at CPAC? Did his contract for the bulk purchase of bus tickets expire?
Adjoran
February 11th, 2012 @ 8:15 pm

For a brokered convention to happen, it would take enough donors and bundlers supporting the third place candidate to earn enough delegates to prevent the frontrunner from assembling a majority. Why would anyone do that? These people aren’t stupid, they don’t want to throw their money away – especially at the risk of potentially pissing off the eventual nominee and maybe next President.

Besides, even if it happened, there is NO reason to assume a non-candidate would get the call. While delegates aren’t committed after the first ballot, most on each slate are loyal supporters of “their guy” and wouldn’t desert him quickly. It is far more likely someone would make a deal among those in the race.

Is that what we want? A smoke-free back room deal?

Ain’t gonna happen anyway, only two AT MOST will attract the money to be viable all the way.
Adjoran
February 11th, 2012 @ 8:16 pm

They had the tickets, but the bus stopped in Maine.
richard mcenroe
February 11th, 2012 @ 8:21 pm

Um, there were what, 5,000 freaking voters?
EBL
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:12 pm

What we are seeing is Newt cratering (again). Santorum has an opportunity if he can expand his support beyond conservatives without a home. He needs to reach out and give a vision of what a Rick Santorum presidency would be. Is he really for tea party/small government principles? By all means say so! Rick is going to be painted by mendouchous individuals like Dan Savage and Andrew Sullivan as a fascist. He needs to combat that.

We do not need or want a “more conservative” Mayor Bloomberg.
EBL
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:14 pm

Maine is Mitt’s back yard. That Santorum did as well as he did there okay. That Mitt did not win by a landslide is a bad sign.
Saturday Roundup 2/11/12 Allen West Brings Down The CPAC House Edition
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:22 pm

[…] BREAKING: ROMNEY WINS CPAC STRAW POLL, SANTORUM A CLOSE SECOND […]
Edward
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:40 pm

Jeb Bush? Just say no to anyone named Bush.
Edward
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:41 pm

CPAC probably has a nice bunch of people. But as far as representing conservatives? Not so much.
richard mcenroe
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:51 pm

Less than 3,000 votes were cast for the “inevitable” candidate. That’s not a sign, that the Burma Shave campaign from Hell.
Dave
February 11th, 2012 @ 9:52 pm

They problem with a brokered convention producing a new candidate is that said candidate would not have, nor have time to build, an organization on the ground nor the ability to raise enough money to compete.
Anonymous
February 12th, 2012 @ 4:00 am

Did anyone here see the video of Santorum sounding rather negative about the tea party movement? It can be found easily with a Google search of:
Santorum tea party concerns

It doesn’t sound as though he’s a fan of it at all. I wonder if Palin has seen that video, and if so, what her reaction was.

Although both Romney and Gingrich have some history of positions contrary to tea party sides of issues as well, I haven’t seen either of them sound so generally critical of the movement as Santorum did in that Q&A (at least in the portions included in that video, but it doesn’t look to be taken out of context).
ThePaganTemple
February 12th, 2012 @ 6:21 am

An eight percentage point difference is not a “close second”, that’s an ass-whuppin’. Just thought somebody should point that out. Of course I could also point out that Mitt has him some deep pockets.
Anonymous
February 12th, 2012 @ 10:28 am

Loool…
my roomate’s step-aunt makes $77 hourly on the computer. She has been without work for 6 months but last month her income was $8135 just working on the computer for a few hours. Here’s the site to read more…http://alturl.com/oqehn
Mike Rogers
February 12th, 2012 @ 2:18 pm

Sarah Palin’s stump speech was the best of the weekend.
She’d make a great president, and REALLY piss off the liberals.
Mike Rogers
February 12th, 2012 @ 2:19 pm

Earthquake in Vanuatu? It’s the atoll trembling in fear of Ambassador Stacy!
Bob Belvedere
February 12th, 2012 @ 4:57 pm

Those smoke-filled rooms, on balance, produced better Presidents that the primary system, which was created by the Progressives – ‘Democracy!’ [spits].
Bob Belvedere
February 12th, 2012 @ 4:59 pm

I just watched it.

Why aren’t we drafting her?

It was a speech worthy of The Raygun.

It was the kind of speech none of the other candidates [including my choice, Rick Santorum] have delivered.
Bob Belvedere
February 12th, 2012 @ 5:00 pm

It is my understanding that Willard’s campaign paid the entrance fee for his supporters.
Full CPAC 2012 Coverage: Pictures, Videos, Speeches, and More!
February 12th, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

[…] Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Santorum in Second (The Other McCain) […]
Anonymous
February 12th, 2012 @ 8:04 pm

When you do blog posts on the fly at CPAC, you can call an 8% gap whatever you please. I say it’s a close second, so thtppppppt!
Mike Rogers
February 12th, 2012 @ 8:06 pm

I watched Santorum’s speech – it was good, very good in parts, but it was not on fire.

BTW, for grins, check out Malkin’s CPAC speeches in 20 words or less.
Bob Belvedere
February 13th, 2012 @ 7:10 am

I checked out MM: well done and funny….and true.