Ron Paul takes lead in latest Iowa poll

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas

/ Charles Krupa

Texas Rep. Ron Paul is now atop the field in Iowa of Republicans looking to unseat President Obama next year.

Paul has the support of 27.5 percent of likely voters for the Jan. 3 caucuses, which kick of the 2012 race for the Republican nomination for president in less than two weeks, according to a poll conducted by Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished a close second, with 25.3 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who took 17.5 percent.

Paul's support could be stronger than other candidates who have led in Iowa in the months since the August straw poll, which Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann won.

Dave Peterson, an associate professor of political science at Iowa State, said Paul's support is likely under represented by polling.

"His supporters are younger and more likely to reply on a cell phone, so he's probably going to perform better than his polling suggests. His supporters also are dedicated and will likely turn out on caucus night and not change their minds," Peterson said.

The poll showed that "the race still remains remarkably fluid" for the other candidates, Iowa State said.

About 37.8 percent of respondents said they were still deciding who to back, while another 34.1 percent said their support would best be characterized as "leaning toward" their candidate. Just 28.1 percent were firmly backing their choice.

Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG asked 740 registered Republicans and 200 registered independents about their current preferences in telephone interviews conducted between December 8-18. The results stem from the 333 of those polled who said they would probably attend the caucuses. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus five percentage points.

[2happy2ride]

by ge556 December 26, 2011 10:32 PM EST
He's also anti-science. He's a doctor who doesn't believe in evolution. How nutty can one be?
------------------------------------------------------
I'm no Paul supporter and he is "anti-" a lot of things. But, you DO know it's STILL called a THEORY? And that there are a growing number of scientists that are convinced, creation is the only explanation.
Look at nature and the natural balance of the animal kingdom and the change of seasons. To think it all continues to occur by happenstance is even more lunacy and certainly takes much more faith to believe in than does creation.

[Fatesrider]

One has to wonder how much corn silk the good folks in Iowa are smoking to have swung from Bachmann (way back when) to Paul. Obviously, all that genetically modified corn pollen floating around is affecting their judgement.

[scottedowner]

What if Ron Paul Don"t Win Iowa ?

The Question is what happens if Ron Paul is not President ?
{ nothing }
we still live in Drama and the Economy wrote with War and Government Controls your House Hold !And Humanity will be Nomanity .
Ron Paul 2012 or no one at All !

[Fatesrider]

Another incoherent and utterly illogical post from a proud member of the Cult of Paul.

[onerioi]

I see that the best the opposition can do is resort to name calling.

[xila654]

I just cant see the Republican establishment embracing Ron Paul in any circumstance, he is the anti-establishment candidate, he will run as an independent and win by a huge margin, America is finally ready for a leader like Ron Paul

[ge556]

He's also anti-science. He's a doctor who doesn't believe in evolution. How nutty can one be?

[lampshadedude]

ge556, you are a nut for even caring about an issue that should play no part in one's decision to vote or not vote for a candidate. where we come from is largely irrelevant. hth

[RickCain4150]

Newt Gingrich was never a serious candidate. He's just selling more books like Cain. It just goes to show the idiocy of the average Republican voter.

[nowarlybia]

Ron Paul is who we want and who we need - Our Next President of the United states!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maugustyn]

Ron Paul 2012. There is no other candidate telling us the truth like Ron is. There is no other candidate who threatens the establishment/status quo/military industrial complex/federal reserve banksters like Ron Paul.

[onerioi]

Let's also vote for a congress of like-minded individuals. I plan to vote for anyone but a Demopublican. I hope you'll join me.

[Nikos_Retsos]

If Ron Paul takes lead in latest Iowa poll, that means that America is waking out of the slumber of constant foreign wars and constant economic disfranchisement and suffering at home! Is it because he wants to stop the war in Afghanistan and invest in America the $ 10 BILLIONS a month we waste in the black hole of Afghanistan? As far as I can discern, it is! Constant American warmongering for a decade has driven most American into poverty, and it has made military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan multimillionaires! The Ron Paul difference is that all hard-core right wing republican candidates get their funding from the Military and Industrial Complex who benefits from the inflated defense budgets and military procurement, while Ron Paul gets his campaign help from young volunteers who want America to invest in America first! And that is the virtue in all philosophy and in all religions.

The problem with American politics is that the American warmongering propaganda is generated by the top 1% of American elite that owns the Military and Industrial Complex, and which profits from the $ "trillions" in annual military budget to run them. And the irony of it is that those who vote for the warmongering republican candidates complain when gasoline hits $ 4 a gallon. But they are so brainwashed by the constant war propaganda that they don't bother to know that the U.S. pays "$ 400 a gallon" for the gasoline it uses in Afghanistan! (Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2011) The U.S. uses millions of $ 400 gallons daily in Afghanistan, and those $ 400 for each gallons is paid from federal taxes the U.S.deducts out of their paychecks! Add to that the human cost in American and civilian Afghans deaths, and any sane person would see a blessing in Ron Paul's intention to put and end to this lunacy!

All of the above, then, beg for this obvious question: Does America needs a Mahatma Gandhi now? And the answer is: Yes, Absolutely, and Desperately! Warmongering has made America the most hated and most despised nation on earth. Ron Paul would make America admired and beloved abroad, and he -and us- would love to keep those $ TRILLIONS wasted now in wars here - in our pockets! And I call it: "Peace and Prosperity" - the Ron Paul way! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[Return2Sanity]

If it's nuts to believe that:
Our money should be supported by something besides our belief that the US government can get its spending under control,
We should find out if a country is really a threat to us before we invade it,
We should not be bailing out the bankers who created the worthless mortgage-backed securities that fill our pension plans,
The US government should not have the right to detain its own citizens indefinitely on vague suspicions....
then I'm ready to ride the Ron Paul crazy train, so sign me up, baby.

[tardalova]

I really like a lot of what Dr. Paul has to say especially about taking issue with the FED. Time will tell if he wins the republican ticket, or he chooses to branch on and run as an independent.