"We used to say if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun. So let's not taunt that alligator."
Posted on 09/26/2015 3:16:50 PM PDT by VinL
The results are in at the Values Voter Summit -- and, for once, Donald Trump fails to top a conservative poll.
The straw poll at the summit, a conservative gathering hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., showed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz winning over voters, leading the pack for the third year in a row.
Cruz, with 35 percent of support, was followed by neurosurgeon-turned-politician Ben Carson, with 18 percent of the vote. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in third, drawing 14 percent of supporters, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 13 percent.
Play Video Why so thin-skinned, Donald Trump?
Registering at fifth place on the survey results: Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner in many state and national polls.
The religious conservatives in attendance simply weren't buying what Trump had to offer. Despite bringing his Bible on stage when addressing the audience, Trump registered at only 5 percent. Trump was even booed at the summit when he slammed Rubio over his immigration policies and called him a "clown."
Below Trump, Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina came in with 4 percent and 3 percent of the vote, respectively.
Trump's low support among the conservative evangelical base will come as no surprise for those following the billionaire's presidential campaign. Trump has been known to flout convention when it comes to wooing the religious right, even admitting once that he was "not sure" that he had ever asked God for forgiveness.
"If I do something wrong, I think I just try and make it right, I don't bring God into that picture," Trump said in July at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.
Still, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, who announced the summit's results, said that Trump's fifth place showing was still "pretty good."
Of the issues most important to attendees, the top three included protecting religious liberty, advocating against abortion rights and protecting "natural marriage."
Carson, with 25 percent of the vote, was the first choice for the vice-presidential slot.
At least 2,700 registered participants attended the summit.
"We used to say if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun. So let's not taunt that alligator."
It looks like he’s mocking them at worst and insincere in his convictions at best.
A “TELL”.... what else is he insincere about..
Who else is insincere that I know of speaks BIG words but minds on vacation..
Be careful, this guy feels so weak he has to call people names. He thinks because somebody said it, it must be true. LOL
Oh nooooeees! Its going to be a theocracy... a theocracy I say!! We’re dooomed...
Meaningless polls, imo. Walker was up by double digits. If Donald is up by 20 in December, then he’s good.
But, you’re probably right, we’ll see.
> “I suppose that is why Cruz voted for the Corker bill, which neutralized and turned upside down the Constitutional treaty provision.”
That statement is so ignorant it really does not deserve a response.
99 of 100 US Senators voted for the Corker Bill including Senators Jeff Sessions and Mike Lee. There is a very good reason for this and it had nothing to do with any respect or support for the Corker Bill.
The fact that you do not address the underlying reason why stalwart US Senators voted for this bill even though they were not in support, indicates you are either a troll or ignorant of the facts or both.
The facts behind the Corker Bill votes have been explained countless times on FR. Look it up or go away.
Caucuses make you show up and face your neighbors. People can be appealed to personally to maximize one candidate over another, and many present already know who most others are supporting, so alliances can shift based on who else shows up.
In the Iowa past, there really wasn’t a standard procedure for the straw vote, so each caucus used their own method if they wished. The reason it wasn’t standardized is because it didn’t have any consequences, as delegates to the next (county and district) levels can’t be committed to any candidate anyway.
This next time, the procedure will be *somewhat* more monitored and standardized and the ‘winner’ will actually end up with at least some delegate votes at the national convention if there is an actual ballot fight.
Trump isn’t conservative but he’s more right on major issues than almost every candidate save Cruz. We can like him anyway. Having Cruz as his VP would be the perfect combo, IMO.
I have been saying something similar for a while now. Cruz has been stuck at 5-6% in the polls for months and is getting no traction. He needs to shake things up in his campaign.
So whatever you think of Iowans' uniqueness, it ain't happenein this time around. They are right in line with everyone else, and Cruz will, if lucky, come in fourth.
Trump might look cheesy to some people for bringing out his bible and speaking as to it’s history but he apparently is not ashamed of such. I would like to hear/see if the other runners have much the same forte. I would think that Cruz, Huckleberry and Carson have but doubt such for the others as they seem so touchy as to the Islam question.
That’s right, precisely.
Trump, apparently, isn't yet sending in swarms of college kids to pad straw polls. He seems incredibly methodical, rolling out a policy paper every four weeks, hitting and re-hitting all the first 10 or so primary states. That way, even if one guy (say, Carson) comes out and manages to sneak out a victory in one state, he still won't have the ground-power to press everywhere. That's why I think Trump has this wrapped up shortly after Super Tuesday.
He is Trump like. He is always on it.
If you don’t study history, you’ll repeat it.
Cruz’ real competition in Iowa is Carson. Steve Deace has already endorsed Cruz and the other power players will make the key decision between Cruz and Carson.
The outside chance for Trump is that Cruz and Carson split the vote so equally that Trump squeaks out a win. Cruz’ needs to figure out how to marginalize Carson to get the win in Iowa. Trump will hit a ceiling there and not be a threat to him.
It is something the Cruz bashers like to use on every Cruz thread. They will whine and wail if you do the same on Trump threads. Liberals on FR like to talk down popular and proven conservatives.
I agree...Trump’s support is IN SPITE of him being a “brim and firestone” conservative.
We’ll fight conservative causes later, AFTER he has sent the illegals home.
“The fact that you do not address the underlying reason why stalwart US Senators voted for this bill even though they were not in support, indicates you are either a troll or ignorant of the facts or both.”
“The fact that you do not address...”
I am not obligated to justify their pathetic votes. Those are the same people who voted McConnell back into his position.
You Cruz zombies get on my nerves. I don’t give a damn if 15 million people voted for the bill, it made the Iran bill possible. If common sense can’t illuminate you, listen to Mark Levin. He has been inveighing against the stupidity of the bill since day one. So, come Monday, call up Mark and tell him how ignorant he is. Then you can contact Andrew McCarthy and tell him how stupid he is. I would assume you are more accomplished than either of those two.
What do you mean-this wasn’t his crowd? Here’s what Trump said about evangelicals just a few weeks ago?
“I love them. They love me,” he said in a press conference following his Greenville speech. “I am protestant — I am Presbyterian. I love the evangelicals. Why do they love me? You’ll have to ask them — but they do.”
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