Mitt Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

For the past three years, the CPAC straw poll has been purely theoretical, with a presidential election actually far out of sight. Those four were won by Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Ron Paul, and Ron Paul. This year, to break the habit, Romney has won again, and what that means for the elections, as they are currently underway, is unclear, but it’s a good way for Romney to end the week.

RELATED: Ron Paul Wins [2011] CPAC Straw Poll Again, Romney, Gary Johnson, Chris Christie Following

The percentages of votes from CPAC attendees are as follows (via Washington Times):

Mitt Romney 38%
Rick Santorum 31%
Ron Paul 12%

The Times also did a national online survey along with CPAC, with similar results:

In the national survey, meanwhile, Mr. Romney barely topped Mr. Santorum 27 percent to 25 percent, with Mr. Gingrich in third place at 20 percent and Mr. Paul again trailing at 8 percent.

As for vice presidential picks, the poll found Sen. Marco Rubio in the top spot for Vice President, followed by Govs. Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell. On the write-in front, Rep. Allen West and Sen. Rand Paul got the most votes, with Donald Trump a notable mention.

With the Maine caucus results coming in tonight after a wave of Rick Santorum victories on Tuesday, this is certainly not good news for the Santorum campaign– but it is particularly bad for Newt Gingrich, who barely resonated on the scale.

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