Ron Paul Wins Virginia GOP Straw Poll
Texas Congressman Ron Paul was the runaway winner of the Virginia state Republican Party Straw Poll today, held in conjunction with the 24th annual Donald Huffman Advance. Final results were (subject to correction):
Ron Paul ..... 182 votes ..... 38 percent
Fred Thompson .... 112 votes .... 23 percent
Mike Huckabee .... 51 votes .... 10 percent
Mitt Romney .... 45 votes .... 9 percent
Rudy Giuliani .... 43 votes ... 9 percent
John McCain .... 23 votes .... 5 percent
Duncan Hunter .... 19 votes ... 4 percent
Tom Tancredo ..... 4 votes .... .08 percent
Hugh Cort .... 0 votes
John Cox ..... 0 votes
There were 479 Republican party activists present and voting. Percentages are rounded.
Update: The Washington Post reports on the straw poll in its Sunday edition; so does the Washington Times, under the headline "Paul easily wins GOP straw poll."
Update #2: Bob Gibson has a report on the Advance and Straw Poll in the Daily Progress. Tyler Whitley incorrectly reports in the Richmond Times-Dispatch that "Paul bused in young supporters" -- the fact is those supporters showed up on their own after being encouraged to attend by others from inside and outside the campaign.
11 comments:
This is one of many reasons why, as I lose my faith in my country, I am gaining faith in my state.
The good news is, once more of the Republican candidates start dropping out, it will become more apparent that Ron Paul's run is nothing more than a pipe dream when a solid conservative (not a libertarian) gains the lead.
Ron Paul is the only real option hasn't changed his political views in years a true Thomas Jefferson amongst us Ron Paul in 2008! I am donating to him every 2 weeks and even if doesn't get the nomination I will write him in!
@CR UVa -- I think you mean a solid Neo-Conservative, newspeak for fascist.
Ron Paul is the ONLY real conservative running for office.
Anthony, Ron is not a conservative, nor a liberal. He is a libertarian. He would be the first to point out the difference. Also, to be a "neo-conservative", one has to have been a liberal. Thompson is a conservative. Hunter is definitely a conservative. Tancredo, also. Huckabee is a social conservative, but, liberal in govt. The others - liberal.
Ron Paul IS a conservative. He doesn't fit the bill as libertarian because he's pro-life (a conservative viewpoint), is against open borders (libertarians are pro-open borders). He's about as libertarian as Ronald Reagan was. If limited government, limited spending, and a non-interventionist foreign policy is not conservative, I don't know what is. Plus not all libertarians are loving on Ron Paul. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1929384/posts
All of these arguments about semantic labels are pretty ridiculous. The term conservative has been distorted for quite a while now - at one point it pretty synonymous with a libertarian point of view, also known as "classic liberalism" which is what American conservatism is called in other parts of the world. Conservatism has to do with maintaining a political system or alternatively a set of cultural values. In America, conservatism has meant trying to maintain or stick to Constitutional government, but in reality very few since the Civil War have been serious about it. Goldwater was, Reagan was, even if he was hamstrung by those around him - and Ron Paul is damned serious. He IS the Thomas Jefferson of our day.
The current day "conservative" like our anti-Paulite pal here is actually an authoritarian, just like your average big government democrat. His concern is not for the Constitution, but for enforcing his view of values and morality on everyone else. His type are not concerned with reducing government, but in using the ever more bloated central government to force different yet similar changes on our society. Both establishment conservatives and establishment liberals want to continue to increase the size and power of government, they just rationalize it differently. Both are giving us the same tyrannical nanny-state.
Yes, the bottom line is that it is not about labels, whether they be conservative, liberal, libertarian, democrat, etc. This man planes to exponentially deliver freedom back to the people and that helps everyone, whether they realize it or not. Those who realize it are voting for Paul, and the numbers grow every second of every day, because anyone who isn't part of the ruling establishment will be helped by freedom.
My name is Rick, and I'm a libertarian. And I support Ron Paul. This is the best news I've heard from Virginia during this campaign.
Ron Paul can win straw polls because of the growing number of activists who support his campaign. This could translate into electorial victories starting in January. Ron Paul can win!
Read:
President Ron Paul – Could He Really Win?
http://www.gambling911.com/Ron-Paul-121407.html
Any Virginian eligible to vote in the state GOP primary 02/12/08 needs to join the state GOP and join their GOP unit (read: city or county) committee now, then campaign like mad to win the state primary next year for Ron Paul.
If you want Ron Paul and candidates like him in public office, work the existing system. Start at the local level.
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