Ron Paul Wins Early Conservative Poll

Updated at 8:02 p.m. ET

Rep. Ron Paul won the most support for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in an unofficial straw poll of conservative activists attending an annual conference.

A libertarian from Texas who has railed against spending and the Federal Reserve, Paul won the Saturday contest at the Conservative Political Action Conference with 31 percent backing. He has sought the presidential nomination in the past and attracted a following among a segment of voters frustrated with Washington.

Participants cheered as their favored candidates' names were announced. Some members of the audience cheered while others booed loudly when event organizers announced Paul as the winner.

Paul spoke at the conference along with potential presidential candidates former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Romney won second with 22 percent, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came in third with 7 percent and Pawlenty finished with 6 percent.

Fewer than a quarter of the 10,000 attendees participated in the balloting, an unscientific sampling that only offers bragging rights.

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[maninNH]

Without real investigation, you can not expect to know Ron Paul and his stance on the Constitution.
Reading the dribble of the Main Stream Media Opinions of him and then watching him in the Debates and watching his Senate Floor Speeches (thank you you tube) you get a sense of the real Statesman that Ron Paul is. He is the only True Choice for the Restoration of America.

Ron Paul 2012
Restore America Now!

[from_the_north]

Oh, please, not another Texan! Big business and oil.

[Crazedmarxist]

Find out who the real Sarah Palin really is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rSNGnYvF8k

[KHLady7]

Ron Paul is smart enough to see the benefit of cannabis. That's a pretty good start in my opinion! He has my vote.

[wjksea]

How little it takes.

[7276sps]

Racism is in America and the sooner we get used to it the sooner we can move on! You will never eliminate racism just mitigate its damage through legislation

[pr_boxer]

Ron Paul is an admitted racist!!!

[HGOODGUY]

Ron Paul is very intellegent as was Eugene McCarthy back in the 60's.

The problem is the same now as it was then.

NOBODY COULD FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT!!!

[troutfishyman]

Ron Paul is the best of a bad lot. Still no reason to vote for him though.

[wjksea]

The private health insurance cartel infringing on the public government's trademark "medicare" has increased it's private kingdoms taxes on citizens by increasing it's "medicare advantage" 14 %.

[wjksea]

Ron Paul is against net neutrality. It is a concern that Ron Paul doesn't address the power of capital to be used as a terrorist weapon of mass destruction against a government of the people.

When Ron Paul spoke against net neutrality, he gave power to non-democratic corporate governments like comcast which would then have extended rights to use its capital to control the content of the internet. The internet has exposed the big lie of our society. Had it not come along when it did, it's painful to think we might not even have a constitution at this point after the aggressive push for privatization and fascism in recent years.

[perk235]

Yes, we have seen what the lean, non-wasteful, non-fraudulent private banking sector did once the protections of the Glass-Steagall act were gutted.