Mittens picked as 2012 GOPiggie front-runner, wins straw poll. Jindal 2nd. Phalin tied for third.

[jefferson_dem]

Romney picked as 2012 GOP front-runner

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Conservative activists on Saturday named former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of a poll for best 2012 GOP presidential candidate.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won 20 percent of the vote in straw poll for presidential favorites. The poll marked the third consecutive year Romney came out on top.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal placed second in the annual poll, conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Romney received 20 percent of the vote and Jindal got 14 percent.

Close behind were Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who each received 13 percent of the vote.

The results were culled over two days from 1,757 of the party activists who came to Washington for the annual conference and filled out ballots on Thursday and Friday. Nearly 60 percent of the straw poll participants were between the ages of 18 and 25. More than half of the conference attendees this year were college students.

The choices in the poll were: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist; former House speaker Newt Gingrich; former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Jindal; Paul; Palin; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; Romney; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, and "Undecided." There was also space on the ballot for a write-in candidate.

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http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/28/cpac/index.html

[Drunken Irishman]

1. So Romney won the last two years and where did it get him?

[MrModerate]

2. I have to agree with them . . . for all his baggage, Romney is . . .

The most electable of the whole bunch. He can simulate statesmanship and makes fewer bug-ass crazy remarks than most of that crew. Obama would wipe the floor with him, of course, but at least it'd kinda look like a contest.

And if the world goes entirely to hell, Obama'll get blamed and Romney would be even more viable under such a scenario.

[vaberella]

5. Republicans really hate Romney though. I mean from what I heard he less fans than Paul. n/t

[Ocracoker16]

6. He is not popular with conservatives

[Every Man A King]

3. Thank you for the context n/t

[Occam Bandage]

4. Judging by the game-changing effect the '07 and '08 polls had on the '08 race,

I think it's pretty obvious that the '09 poll makes him nothing short of a lock for '12.

[Medusa]

7. They got nothing

LOL.

[livetohike]

10. Exactly!

They had nothing in 2008 and I believe they know they have nothing for 2012. They don't know what to do about it though.

[Fire1]

11. I luv that!

:rofl:

[Jennicut]

8. Romney is a slick snake oil business man type but at the very least

he can give a halfway decent speech and is not a space cadet. Considering what the Repubs have to choose from I would say the pickins are indeed slim.

[pettypace]

9. Mitt Romney will be an excellent candidate

Could it have been his Mormonism that prevented his nomination last year? He seemed like a great candidate, and would have shined post Lehman Bros meltdown.

Lets see if the religious conservatives will give him some slack and give the nod to him for '12.

I'd say a Romney/Rick Perry ticket would fit the bill.

[TwilightGardener]

12. Had the GOPers been smart and less prejudiced against Mormons, they

would have made Romney their nominee in '08, seeing as how the economy was his strong suit. But he just couldn't get away from the Massachusetts-liberal stain and the "not a Christian" thing--plus, he's not very likeable. The media actually selected McCain--conservative GOPers never liked or trusted him, but at least he didn't sport magic underwear.

[Wetzelbill]

15. Romney is such a bad politician

the race probably was his for the taking. They maybe could have gotten over the prejudice thing if they had to, but by being so unlikeable and inauthentic he shot himself in the foot. It was embarrassing watching that guy change every position he's ever had. He was so terrible on the campaign trail and so inauthentic in debates and interviews that he totally blew his chance at winning. Only Rudy and Fred Thompson were worse. Rudy was epically bad, that collapse is legendary. Nobody really compares to that, not even Mitt.

[TwilightGardener]

16. Yes, how quickly people forget the colossal fail that was Rudy--

notice he's not even on the radar anymore--there was no way a pro-choice GOPer was going to get anywhere NEAR the throne. Mittens had brains, but just didn't have the political skill, you're right.

[Wetzelbill]

17. if Mitt had the natural political skill of Mike Huckabee

Then he might be able to go somewhere nationally, but he don't. He comes off as a sleazy car salesman and when he isn't coming off like that he seems like the asshole boss who just fired a few hundred employees. Plus, he has a bit of a creepy aura about him, that's probably unfair, but he does. Romney is th sort of guy who makes people uneasy, and you know he might very well be a nice guy but he comes off that way a little.

[Wetzelbill]

13. right now all the panning helps Jindal with the GOP

They are so resentful about the media and they always feel people are looking down on them that even though they probably thought his speech sucked, they also have an identification with him for the perception of him being made fun of.

[DemocracyInaction]

14. Okay-now I know they were smoking dope at the CPAC

What's wrong with this crazy bat-ass scene? Here are the biggest collection of right-wing fanatics, lunatics, terrorists, traitors and nut jobs on the planet (lead by Oxy Uncle Rush)and they come up with Mitt who all of them detest 'cause he's "one of them non-Christian Mormons", he's really a Dem ('cause he was in that luberal state of MA), etc. Now days the party is DEFINITELY just all right-wing nut cases and they think Mitt will lead them out of the Wilderness. It's like us picking Lieberman.......I tell you, these people are "on" something...

[AllentownJake]

18. Even if the economy takes a full turn around

a former CEO isn't going to be a great thing to sell.

[tanyev]

19. Wheee! Free Republic just gets more and more entertaining!

This thread quickly degenerates into a free-for-all between Romney haters, Mormon haters, Bobby Jindal birthers and the omnipresent Palin groupies. I had no idea there were Bobby Jindal birthers. Apparently they know that the Founding Fathers' intent with the term "natural born citizen" is that the parents had to have become citizens, which Jindal's weren't yet at the time of his birth. Gosh, I wish I could read the minds of people that have been dead for a couple hundred years.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2196348/posts