“All this does is prove beyond any doubt that CPAC is no longer conservative.”
Well, they’re cheering on a good speech/presentation by Beck anyhow...but the straw poll is just weird/distressing...wonder how many get to vote in that??
Well, they’re cheering on a good speech/presentation by Beck anyhow...but the straw poll is just weird/distressing...wonder how many get to vote in that??
I just returned from my 8th consecutive CPAC and have said this over and over again on Free Republic:
DO NOT put any stock in that ridiculous CPAC straw poll that they insist on doing year after year! It bugs me so much that the media takes this non-scientific poll so damn seriously.
CPAC has so many wonderful events going on simultaneously, and the majority of attendees who bother to take the significant amount of time out of their day to "vote" in that straw poll are students (usually young guys between the ages of 18-25). And the ones who vote (over and over again) are rabid about their candidate - this year it happened to be Ron Paul.
I see these young guys every year at the straw poll tables... tables monitored by students, btw. These kids start filling out the paper ballots at the beginning of the conference (before they even listen to any speeches), they vote multiple times and stuff the stupid cardboard boxes with their ballots. It's kind of like us "FReeping" a poll, to be honest.
And then the media goes crazy proclaiming "Conservatives pick Ron Paul as their favorite candidate for 2012! Wow!"
I hate that dumbass CPAC straw poll. I don't have any "clout" with the CPAC honchos, but my husband and I are going to write and request that they stop running this straw poll every year. This thing totally misrepresents the majority of attendees at the conference.
CPAC had over 10,000 attendees this year, and about 2,395 of them voted in the straw poll. 52% were male, and in the 18-25 age bracket. Or so the poll said... who knows if these were even honest answers?
BTW, just before Glenn Beck's closing keynote speech, the pollster - Tony Fabrizio - read the Ron Paul result, and the crowd of 10,000 loudly BOOed, and for a significant time. I was one of 'em! Over in a far corner, there were a few wimpy cheers in the student section. Yeah, you guessed it - the Paulestinians.
You can find the results of this silly poll here if you're interested: