What CPAC Straw Poll Really Said

[homeless]

It is definitely showing the generational turnover in the politcal arena. I think many younger people are starting to wake up and realize that it will be their responsibility to clean up all the that the system has been flinging around for decades.

I'm still sadened and continually frustrated by the amount of young people that don't care about politics and governmental policies. Ignorance, complacency, and laziness are really slowing political progress down. I hope the '10 CPAC is an indication that my generation is in the midst of an awakening.

I agree with mrjarrell, I'm glad to see Sarah Palins small representation on the poll. It makes sense to me as it seems that most of her supporters are males over the age of 40.......and we all know why

I hear you brother. As our generation gains its voice things will get very interesting. The so called "conservative" values of the GOP will not last long. I see my generation identifying themselves as Liberty minded and even libertarian.

A big thing that I have noticed is the tolerance for BS is next to nothing with young conservatives. As soon as someone is outed as being a party to big government they are left for dead. And right now the major pundits trying to keep up but may be painting themselves into a corner.

Allot of guys I talk to feel that they were sold out by our Parents and Grand Parents generations. The War on Everything mentality is lost to us. As the current crop of politicians talk about the wars on drugs, poverty, terrorism, and wtf ever, all we hear is failure to do anything but spend money and cost us our freedom.

 

[Ramen]

The War on Everything mentality is lost to us. As the current crop of politicians talk about the wars on drugs, poverty, terrorism, and wtf ever, all we hear is failure to do anything but spend money and cost us our freedom.

Agreed. The federal government is currently waging a war on prosperity.

On the bright side, this one is winnable.

Too bad everyone loses.

 

[groovatron]

lol...I'm 41 and I wouldn't mind giving her a spankin'...that is if the wife says it's ok , but I wouldn't vote for her in any upcoming election.

It's funny you say that, cuz when I first checked out your profile, I thought you were my age.....then I saw you were 41 and I was shocked. Mostly because your picture looked younger.....must have been the sunglasses

And FTR, there is nothing wrong with being attracted to SP's physical attributes...I love women of most ages....but it must stop there.

I elect ATF as the ambassador of his age group........we'd be better off

 

[thecanuck]

It is definitely showing the generational turnover in the politcal arena. I think many younger people are starting to wake up and realize that it will be their responsibility to clean up all the that the system has been flinging around for decades.

I'm still sadened and continually frustrated by the amount of young people that don't care about politics and governmental policies. Ignorance, complacency, and laziness are really slowing political progress down. I hope the '10 CPAC is an indication that my generation is in the midst of an awakening.

I agree with mrjarrell, I'm glad to see Sarah Palins small representation on the poll. It makes sense to me as it seems that most of her supporters are males over the age of 40.......and we all know why

I think what's happening is the college students that go to the free concerts for Obama are beginning to realize that when they get into the real world that their pay check is getting eaten alive and they don't like what they see. It's always different when it's your money going to pay somebody's welfare....

 

[groovatron]

I think what's happening is the college students that go to the free concerts for Obama are beginning to realize that when they get into the real world that their pay check is getting eaten alive and they don't like what they see. It's always different when it's your money going to pay somebody's welfare....

Actually, what you just said is exactly my point......but it's not just Obama and it's not just welfare.....it's the government as a whole. Bush ate just as much of my paycheck. They just do it in different ways. I mean look at a comparison of Bush and Obama. Both signed huge bailout bills, both stepped up war efforts, and both plugged money into their own special interests. This is why a candidate like Ron Paul and media figures like Glen Beck are becoming an attraction. We are tired of getting continually screwed over by both parties. When is the last time you have heard a president speak out against bureaucracy and big government and then actually do something about it? IDK, maybe Grover Cleveland, and he was a Dem. This is why I can't stomach the so-called conservatives that bash RP. Come on, no one has come even close to speaking out against a long trend of big government corruption. All you have to do is watch the primary debates from the last election. One must see that RP is an honest voice of the constitution and the rest of the candidates were in their generic talking-head mode of gibberish. The guy wants to get rid of the IRS for crying out loud. The very institution that the average conservative spends their life whining about. How he doesn't get automatically elected is beyond me. It just goes to show that there is more to the problem then the standard arguements. Things will change though, and if it's not RP, it will be another.

 

[Armed & Christian]

Let's not get this thread locked by some overzealous mod.

Clear. But having said that, Dr. Paul is by far the best candidate we have; speaking as a Christian or otherwise.

The main contention that most Christians have with RP is his stance on Israel. For some reason, we seem to think that if we don't throw half our national budget into "protecting" Israel that God will start hurling down thunderbolts from the firmament.

Ron Paul is a strict Constitutionalist and openly pro-life. That's more than good enough for me, as well as about 90% of my Christian friends. He doesn't support throwing money at Israel because our Constitution doesn't allow for it. Any Christian should understand (and support) this stance as falling under "submitting to the governing authorities" part of Romans 13. in America, our "governing authority" is the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. People are not our "governing authority," as no-one is above the law. As John Knox said, Lex Rex: the law is king--not the other way around.

If you want to support Israel, fine. Take up a collection in your church. I'm as much for supporting and protecting the Jews against the crazy @ss Muslims as the next guy---but don't steal money from all of the American taxpayers to fund this belief. Constitutionally, it is every bit as untenable as using tax $ to fund abortion clinics.

 

[ATF Consumer]

IBTRPB - (In Before The Ron Paul Bashers)

Surprisingly...the RP haters on this forum have stayed out of this thread...at least from commenting on it.

Must be because they are having difficulty arguing against logic.

 

[thecanuck]

Actually, what you just said is exactly my point......but it's not just Obama and it's not just welfare.....it's the government as a whole. Bush ate just as much of my paycheck. They just do it in different ways. I mean look at a comparison of Bush and Obama. Both signed huge bailout bills, both stepped up war efforts, and both plugged money into their own special interests. This is why a candidate like Ron Paul and media figures like Glen Beck are becoming an attraction. We are tired of getting continually screwed over by both parties. When is the last time you have heard a president speak out against bureaucracy and big government and then actually do something about it? IDK, maybe Grover Cleveland, and he was a Dem. This is why I can't stomach the so-called conservatives that bash RP. Come on, no one has come even close to speaking out against a long trend of big government corruption. All you have to do is watch the primary debates from the last election. One must see that RP is an honest voice of the constitution and the rest of the candidates were in their generic talking-head mode of gibberish. The guy wants to get rid of the IRS for crying out loud. The very institution that the average conservative spends their life whining about. How he doesn't get automatically elected is beyond me. It just goes to show that there is more to the problem then the standard arguements. Things will change though, and if it's not RP, it will be another.

Well put... I got more frustrated in the last 4 years of the Bush administration than I have in this Obama administration because of the fact that we didn't expect to get huge entitlements and expansion with Republican's in control and that's what we got. I think what is happening is that people are FINALLY getting informed and that the idea that each man, woman and child owes hundreds of thousands of dollars a piece has caused every one to take a deep breath. Hopefully, people will take that knowledge and vote this fall for the candidate who makes sense. I saw a poll tonite that Charlie Crist is down 18 points to Rubio in the primary in Florida - that would be unheard of 6 months ago!

 

[ATF Consumer]

I might be taking a road trip...

On March 8, the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH will host bigger rock stars than usual — Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano! They’ll record a special edition of Freedom Watch live on stage at 7:00 p.m., and then Dr. Paul will give a speech. It’s free and open to the public. Get all the details and RSVP ---> here.<---

 

[homeless]

That is cool.

However you might want to edit that to change the colours of those links, I almost didn't see them and I am really awesome, so most of the plebes here might miss it.

 

[Ramen]

I might be taking a road trip...

On March 8, the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH will host bigger rock stars than usual — Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano! They’ll record a special edition of Freedom Watch live on stage at 7:00 p.m., and then Dr. Paul will give a speech. It’s free and open to the public. Get all the details and RSVP ---> here.<---

But Ohio infringes even more than Indiana on my right to defend myself!

 

[ATF Consumer]

Absurdly Premature 2012 Watch, Vol. 10: The Ron Paul Problem

Andrew Romano

The conservatives who flocked to CPAC last weekend might not have seen eye to eye on everything, but one thing they did seem to agree on was that the conference's famous "straw poll" didn't really mean all that much─especially after organizers revealed that the winner, with 31 percent of the vote, was none other than 2008 presidential candidate and long time libertarian congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Townhall.com's Meredith Jessup warned against"read[ing] too much into these results," given that "this is definitely not an indication where the GOP primary elections are headed and certainly not a reflection of mainstream conservatives." Mike Huckabee,who tied for sixth with 4 percent of the vote, dismissed the outcome as well."CPAC has has become increasingly libertarian and less Republican over the last years," he told a reporter, "[which is] one of the reasons I didn't go." And Glenn Beck simply unloaded on Paul himself,calling him "a crazy, kooky guy."
Setting aside the irony of that last remark for a moment, I'd like to note, for the records, that Jessup, Huckabee, and Beck couldn't be more wrong about the straw poll results. They are, in fact, meaningful. Not necessarily for Paul, who, despite his popularity among libertarian conservatives probably won't run again for president in 2012 and almost certainly wouldn't win the Republican nomination if he did. Instead, I'm thinking about what Paul's victory and the politics it embodies means for potential candidates like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty─candidates who fell short Saturday (with 22 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively) but who actually do have a shot at going head-to-head with Barack Obama in the next presidential election.
My sense is that they will face some difficult decisions in the coming months. On one hand, I think the GOP will be better served with a measured,rational, grown-up conservative atop its ticket in 2012 than with someone who represents the impassioned, populist impulses of the tea-party right (like,say, Sarah Palin). By primary season, the economy will probably be improving and Obama will probably be working with an expanded Republican contingent in Congress to pass smaller, more centrist measures, which means he will likely seem more attractive to independent voters than he does right now. This could bode well for Republicans like Romney and Pawlenty, who have demonstrated pragmatic leadership skills and budget-balancing discipline as blue-state governors. Swing voters who think that Obama is too liberal and too spendthrift─but who disagree with Rush Limbaugh that he's some sort of scheming socialist villain─would likely see Romney or Pawlenty as a more plausible alternative to the president than Palin.

The problem, of course, is that acting measured, rational, and grown-up is no way to win a primary─especially when the GOP base is as agitated as the CPAC poll results suggest. On the right, voters are significantly more antigovernment and anti spending than they were a year ago: 52 percent of CPAC respondents listed "reducing the size of federal government" as their top concern, up 9 percent from 2009; "reducing government spending" came in second at 33 percent, also a 9 percent increase. Terrorism, Iraq, illegal immigration, and abortion, meanwhile, all declined by 3 to 5 percent. These are valid policy preferences. But the activist conservatives who are currently promoting them most avidly─tea-partiers, Paulites, etc.─seem less interested in finding practical solutions to Washington's endemic problems than in tearing down Washington itself. As the 2010 elections approach, this nihilistic feeling will only grow stronger, and the temptation for Pawlenty and Romney to pander─to advocate for "tak[ing] a nineiron and smash[ing] the window out of big government" or to call Democrats "neomonarchists,"as they did at CPAC─will grow along with it.
Giving in would be a mistake. Extremism might be popular now, but it won't be in 2012. The candidate who thrives over the next two years will be one who threads this needle most skillfully, delivering a rational, fiscally conservative message(entitlement reform over earmarks, for example) without indulging in the histrionics of the 9/12 crowd. Calm, cool, resistant to fringe passions─but still able to rally the troops. The one, come to think of it, who seems most Obamaesque.

 

[T-rav]

"On the right, voters are significantly more antigovernment and anti spending than they were a year ago"

The media pays no attention to people like myself. Im not anti-government, I want it restored to the people by the people for the people. These clowns that write this crap need to actually research what people like myself are about. I could give a crap about that stupid letter next to your name. Show me somebody that understands The Constitution. Anti-spending well if Im broke I don't go out and buy a new friggin car!!!! These clowns need to use their brian that was so well educamated.

 

[ATF Consumer]

"On the right, voters are significantly more antigovernment and anti spending than they were a year ago"

The media pays no attention to people like myself. Im not anti-government, I want it restored to the people by the people for the people. These clowns that write this crap need to actually research what people like myself are about. I could give a crap about that stupid letter next to your name. Show me somebody that understands The Constitution. Anti-spending well if Im broke I don't go out and buy a new friggin car!!!! These clowns need to use their brian that was so well educamated.

Yep...just because we want smaller government doesn't mean we are "anti-government"... It is simply a way to diminish us down to a level of crazies and kooks...quite disgusting indeed.

 

[Fletch]

I'm anti-State, not anti-government. And I'm not really on the right. So I guess none of this applies to me.

 

[jsgolfman]

Mike Huckabee,who tied for sixth with 4 percent of the vote, dismissed the outcome as well."CPAC has has become increasingly libertarian and less Republican over the last years," he told a reporter, "[which is] one of the reasons I didn't go." And Glenn Beck simply unloaded on Paul himself,calling him "a crazy, kooky guy."

Methinks they both need to do some research about what the Republican platform is and used to be. Once they do that, I believe they will see that, rather than CPAC becoming more libertarian, it's becoming more republican.
As for Beck, he's nothing more than an entertainer. If Paul is crazy and kooky, give me that all day compared to any of the neocon tripe.

 

[irishfan76]

i like ron paul on a lot of issues, still have a problem with his foreign policy and drug legalization viewpoints

 

[ATF Consumer]

i like ron paul on a lot of issues, still have a problem with his foreign policy and drug legalization viewpoints

Yep...we need to bring back prohibition because it worked so well.

 

[T-rav]

I dont think his policy would instantly bring everyone home. It would have to be a slow withdraw from all the bases. I dont see why we are in other countries to begin with, why do we need our men and women in Germany, or Japan or where ever. Would we let the Chinese military have a base here? We could use those fine men and women here protecting our borders of the country. We dont need to be involved in any other countries business until they threaten us then....bets are off.

 

[turnandshoot4]

Yep...we need to bring back prohibition because it worked so well.

Hey, it is working now isn't it? I mean, it's not like we are funding a multi billion dollar industry right? If it were legal than EVERYONE would do it. You know, like smoke cigarettes. Think about the children.