Ron Paul Wins RLC Straw Poll With 40%

Watching CSPAN right now and they're saying Paul won with 612 votes.

www.ronpaul2012.com...

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Today, 2012 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul again took first place in a straw poll at a major conservative gathering. The Republican Leadership Conference held in New Orleans was the setting for Congressman Paul’s latest victory, winning with 40 percent of the vote over the rest of the Republican field.

“This win is just the latest indicator of how the majority of American opinion is turning in Ron Paul’s direction,” said Jesse Benton, Paul campaign chairman. “Listening to all the other speakers and candidates, you hear them saying the things that Dr. Paul has been saying for years, and they are saying it because they know that’s what Americans are looking for right now.

And heres the RLC site if anyone wants to know more about the conference.

www.rlc2011.com...

And heres the video of Paul's speech at the RLC

Why does he continue to run as a Republican when he KNOWS hsi own party despises him and will always marginalize him?

Honestly, it reads to me like he is just playing a roll. I like him and much of what he says, but by continuing to Run as a Republican would seem to only ensure his further marginalization.

reply to post by buni11687


This kind of thing needs spread via all the social networking possible. It will never be reported on Mainstream Media. Ron Paul has been winning every poll out there, but the MSM continues to show him at the bottom, so that people will start to count him out and poll for someone else. I think CNN should be sued for what they did, and I think FOX should be ashamed of itself for pretending to be conservative and then ignoring Paul.

I was a victim of MSM this last election. I didn't think he had a chance, so I didn't vote for him. Now I realize that is the whole game! They won't ever admit that he is a frontrunner and over time the real polls begin to match the false polls.

Share Ron Paul with your friends and family and coworkers, and tell them not to trust the MSM, and tell them about CNN blatantly lying. Maybe it will make a difference.

reply to post by incrediblelousminds

Why does he continue to run as a Republican when he KNOWS hsi own party despises him and will always marginalize him?

Because there is so much money to be had there! SO MUCH MONEY!

If an independent ever did well enough to get public funding, then the race would be fair, but right now, you have to be endorsed by the Dems or Repubs to have a chance at actually winning.

I hope Ron Paul names Marco Rubio or Paul Ryan as his running mate, and they go out and campaign together!

I wouldn't be surprised if CNN reported on the straw poll and said Ron Paul came in with 0 votes, Romney with 1000; or some other incredible lie. The people are waking up, just like most of us have for a long time; we're are sick of the war-mongering presidents. Ron Paul is the least likely to flipflop on his policies because he's been true to his voting and political record for 30+ years. I don't think the same can be said for any other candidate, and especially that lying power-hungry piece of sh!t in office right now.

reply to post by incrediblelousminds

Why does he continue to run as a Republican when he KNOWS hsi own party despises him and will always marginalize him?

He answers your question at approximately 3:50 in the video below:

Straw polls mean nothing. They aren't the least bit scientific. When you take a statistically significant poll from a randomized group of likely voters nationwide, Paul is polling at about 8%. There are people who haven't even declared who are significantly ahead of him (e.g. Palin, Perry) This is not a MSM trick and is not an attempt to marginalize Ron Paul. It's cold, hard reality.

For Ron Paul supporters to believe these straw polls, flash polls, and 'y'all com on over and vote' polls is extremely destructive to the Ron Paul campaign itself. It's giving credulous Ron Paul supporters a false sense of where they really are. The reason it is destructive is because a belief that a straw poll accurately reflects where Ron Paul is will result in wrongful decisions by the campaign. A team in the lead of anything plays a much different game than a team that is behind. In fact, there are those who claim it is better to be behind because it gives a sense of urgency to a campaign that the leader does not have. Over confidence has sunk many a campaign, e.g. Hillary in 08, Dewey in 48.

I can only hope that the people actually in charge of the Ron Paul campaign are smart enough and experienced enough to know that though they can certainly use these straw polls as a method to boost the campaign, the polls are no way near accurate enough to justify any confidence whatsoever. If the campaign officials actually believe these straw polls as easily as ATS'rs, Ron Paul doesn't have a prayer of a chance.

I do have confidence that the actual Ron Paul campaign staff are not as gullible as many here on ATS.

reply to post by schuyler


Sorry, but that is incorrect as well. There is no such thing as a "random sampling," because most hard-working conservatives don't have time to participate in polls! The people that would support Ron Paul are the people least likely to be answering their phone at 5:30 on a weeknight, and even less likely to take out 5 to 10 minutes to talk to a pollster. In addition, I have tried to participate in those polls before, and the questions are pre-worded to elicit the desired response. It is never so simple as "who would you vote for if the election were today?"

Even worse, you can't trust the reported results as CNN proved. The poll they sourced showed Ron Paul as the clear leader, but the reported 0%. Plus, they ignored their own online poll that showed him doubling the next closest competitor.

Statistics and polls are too easily manipulated, and even when they are done as professionally as possible, they are unreliable, because a sampling of 1500 people willing to answer their phones and take 10 minutes out of their evening does not represent the true political climate.

Personally, I believe reporting on polling should be illegal. It takes inaccuracies and purports them as fact, and then it influences the real facts. We have an election day for a reason, leave the polls out of it.

Listening to the Polls sure did cost Charlie Crist a certain Senate Seat and potential Presidential Run! He polished his platform to match the polls, and it didn't win him the undecided, it didn't win him the Democrats, and it lost him the strong support he had before listening to the polls.

Just like the Stock Market motto, "The public is always wrong." The same should be said for political polls!

Ron Paul Fantasy does great in manipulated polls.

This is no surprise.

Does this help his chances?

Nope. Still has a snowballs chance in hell.

reply to post by Erowynn


so he's using saul alynki's tactics?

Looks like the potheads were very energized in New Orleans.

Jon Huntsman came in 2nd. Huntsman came out in favor of legalizing marijuana just this week.

This is hilarious!

reply to post by incrediblelousminds


Care to substantiate your claims? Otherwise it just looks like a sad attempt to associate Ron Paul with the radical left.

reply to post by getreadyalready


No, it really isn't incorrect. Further, it's in your best interests to pay attention to what I'm telling you here. I realize not everyone has been exposed to the statistical method and how accurate it can be. You can't just explain it away with assumptions about who answers the telephone when. You are being ignorant here and I'm not saying that trying to call you names. I mean it sincerely and even with respect. A poll by Rasmussen or any of the other polling companies is far more accurate than these straw polls. Believeing these straw polls accurate is about as funny as believing reptilians are eating your souls. Don't go there. It's not helping you or your cause. Really.

And it's also exacerbated by the fact that supporters of Ron Paul spam the polls. For example, Paul supporters were offered free tickets expressly so they could vote in the poll.

Am I claiming this is cheating or unethical? No, not at all. "Everybody does it." When the NRA tells its members to go vote in the latest USA Today gun rights poll, that's exactly the same thing. The purpose of spamming a straw poll is to get Ron Paul's name out there and make him look more popular than he really is hoping for a bandwagon effect to attract more supporters.

The problem is not that Ron Paul supporters are doing this, but that people, particularly Ron Paul supporters, actually believe the results represent reality. And if you subsequently make decisions based on the false assumption that Ron Paul is so far ahead, you're not only delusional, you are also acting detrimental to the campaign. In order to actually win the campaign must face reality and act upon it. I'm NOT saying Ron Paul cannot win. I AM saying that if you continue to act as if these straw polls reflect reality, then Ron Paul doesn't have a chance.

JUST BECAUSE you are a Ron Paul supporter does not mean that you have to act in a delusional manner out of loyalty to his cause. You will be a FAR more effective Ron Paul supporter if you realize these polls do not reflect rality and you absolutely must devise devise strategies for success in the real world rather than the artifical world some of his supporters are attempting to create.

Originally posted by schuyler
A poll by Rasmussen or any of the other polling companies is far more accurate than these straw polls.

Do you think this Rasmussen poll is accurate?

Election 2012: Barack Obama 42%, Ron Paul 41%

www.rasmussenreports.com...

www.ronpaul.com...

reply to post by Carseller4


Potheads? lol you're pretty ignorant aren't you?

oh and maybe you should research why marijuana should be legalized, and stop relying on 60+ years of American propaganda





As for Ron Paul, It's unlikely he will win. I'm not saying that because I don't like him, it's just been proven in the past that whenever someone runs (that's for the people) they ALWAYS lose...

www.rlc2011.com...

Heres the full list of the votes

Bachmann 191
Cain 104
Gingrich 69
Huntsman 382
Johnson 10
McCotter 2
Palin 41
Paul 612
Pawlenty 18
Roemer 9
Romney 74
Santorum 30

Originally posted uNobama
As for Ron Paul, It's unlikely he will win. I'm not saying that because I don't like him, it's just been proven in the past that whenever someone runs (that's for the people) they ALWAYS lose...

TPTB will do anything to keep him out.

Ron Paul woke me and a lot of other people up during the 2007 primary, he will wake a lot more people up this time.

I really want him to be president, but I do agree with you. I will still hope for it, and I will write him in if he is not on the ballot.

reply to post by schuyler


I wasn't trying to defend the straw poll, and I am extremely well acquainted with statistical measurement and anomalies. I appreciate the fact that Ron Paul supporters need to get a grasp on how politics in the US work, and they better get with the program to make the "real" polls reflect their momentum or it will quickly die.

My rant was on statistics and polls in general. I think they should all be illegal to report during election time. If the campaigns want to use polling to steer their campaign, then fine, they do so at their own peril, but the media outlets should not be able to report the polling, because it gives an incomplete picture and affects the outcome. It is no different than campaigning on behalf of the front runners, and it technically probably violates campaign finance laws.

For the record:
All of my schooling is in math and chemistry. I also use statistics daily for my job, and I can manipulate them to say whatever I want depending on what I am trying to justify. I can use CCIS crime data, or I can use FBI crime data, I can run statistics on reports, or statistics on arrests or statistics on convictions, because they will all be different. I can zero in on specifics or I can widen my parameters until the results support my cause. I can throw out the outliers to get a more clean and convincing picture, or I can use the outliers to skew my median and average. I can scale my charts and graphs to look more uniform or more dramatic. I can experiment with start and end dates until I find a section that really drives home my point.

Statistics are a great tool, for manipulating data, but they are NEVER dependable!

Originally posted by Erowynn
reply to post by incrediblelousminds

 

Care to substantiate your claims? Otherwise it just looks like a sad attempt to associate Ron Paul with the radical left.

Well, in the video i was responding to, Dr. Paul says that he believes in infiltrating 'the system' and changing it from within, making a reference to the 'alynski tactic' somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek attempt at humor. You ARE aware that that very same reasoning is often referred to derisively here on these very forums, right?

I guess it was lost on you.

nice...