RLC straw poll shows deep dissatisfaction with establishment choices

Written by David Freddoso. Posted in 2014 Campaigns
Tagged: rlc2014
Published on June 01, 2014



NEW ORLEANS — Yesterday’s Conservative Intel straw poll at the Republican Leadership Conference gave a few hints about what conservative voters are thinking. An early hint — they’re not thinking about moderation or finding someone supposedly “electable.”
First of all, you could really tell that Sen. Ted Cruz made an impression with his speech on Saturday afternoon. The crowd was engaged and enthusiastic, and he worked exceptionally well. As impressive orators go, Cruz is the conservative Barack Obama. From conversations with conference-goers, it seemed fairly obvious after he spoke that he was going to win, and sure enough, he did.
Second, the result gives a few clues about the composition of attendees. This is an older crowd than the one that shows up each winter at CPAC. It’s also a bit less libertarian, but still enough so to give Paul a good third place showing in his absence.
To build on that, the RLC crowd was 70 percent behind candidates whom John McCain might refer to as “wacko-birds” — the disruptive types who do things like “defund,” excoriate President Obama at public events, and launch filibusters over the potential use of drones against American citizens within the United States.
It’s also interesting to see that even though all of the candidates on this list could be considered social conservatives to some degree, this very conservative crowd was not too interested in the two candidates who would campaign with a heavy emphasis on social issues. Rick Santorum (who spoke at the convention) and Mike Huckabee (who did not) combined for a disappointing 7.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the more “establishment” candidates — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie — also did quite poorly, splitting the remaining 20 percent of the vote with two write-in candidates.
It is perhaps disappointing to see Carson do so well, since he isn’t a realistic candidate for president and votes for him can’t be weighed like votes for more likely aspirants. But every vote for him demonstrates further conservative dissatisfaction with Republican politicians.
Again, here are the results:
1. Ted Cruz — 30.33 percent
2. Ben Carson — 29.38 percent
3. Rand Paul — 10.43 percent
4. Mike Huckabee — 5.06 percent
5. Rick Perry — 4.90 percent
6. Curt Clawson (write-in) 4.58 percent
7. Jeb Bush — 4.42 percent
8. Marco Rubio — 3.32 percent
9. Rick Santorum — 2.37 percent
10. Paul Ryan — 2.05 percent
11. Allen West (write-in) — 2.05 percent
12. Chris Christie — 1.11%

http://www.conservativeintel.com/2014/06/01/wrapping-up-rlc2014-in-new-orleans/?utm_source=Intel&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Ho use