Ron Paul Wins Conference Straw Poll, to No One’s Surprise

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

Wildly enthusiastic Ron Paul supporters, including busloads of college students, have been a visible presence at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, so no one was surprised when Mr. Paul won the conference’s annual straw poll of presidential preferences on Saturday.

All of the major Republican contenders spoke on Friday or Saturday at the conference, a pep rally for religious conservatives sponsored by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association and other conservative Christian groups and attended by 3,400 people. Of the 1,983 who voted, 37 percent chose Mr. Paul.

But what turned heads here was the low support registered for the two presumed front-runners for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney and Gov. Rick Perry. Mr. Romney, who has struggled to win the allegiance of religious conservatives because his stances on abortion and same-sex marriage, received 4 percent of the votes. Mr. Perry, whose conservative credentials are considered nearly impeccable, tied with Michele Bachmann at 8 percent, well behind Herman Cain (23 percent) and Rick Santorum (16 percent).

“The field is still somewhat fluid,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, as he discussed the results. The lesson for Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry, he said, is that “the hearts and minds and passions of the values voters are still to be won.”

Read more: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/ron-paul-wins-conference-straw-poll-to-no-ones-surprise/?hp