Remember the Paulbots during the 2008 campaign? They seemed to be everywhere except at voting booths on election day. They delivered dizzying money bombs and Ron Paul won every voting poll known to man (except the scientific ones) thanks largely to their support and insomnia. However, state primaries and caucuses remained elusive to the Paul bunch.
Well it appears they managed to infiltrate CPAC too as evident from Paul capturing the straw poll this evening.
2010 CPAC Straw Poll Results
Ron Paul 31%
Mitt Romney 22%
Sarah Palin 7%
Tim Pawlenty 6%
Mike Pence 5%
Newt Gingrich 4%
Mike Huckabee 4%
Mitch Daniels 2%
John Thune 2%
Rick Santorum 2%
Haley Barbour 1%
This, of course, means exactly nothing. But what is interesting is that Romney seemed to be the runaway favorite as he was the only real candidate that polled in double digits. Romney is the winner of the last three CPAC polls and by looking at these results, he is technically the winner for a fourth in a row.
See more of the discussion at Memeorandum.
Commentary
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I am no fan of Ron Paul, and of course this poll comes too early to predict anything. But what it does tell us is that the conservative movement (to the extent it is represented by CPAC) has not yet coalesced behind a standard-bearer. To say that Romney is a “runaway favorite” at 22% is a bit of a stretch. The fact that Romney was able to win the poll in 2008 and 2009 (Paulbots notwithstanding) but not in 2010 is an indication of Romney’s weakness, not his strength. It may also represent the influence of groups previously under-represented at CPAC.