August 04, 2009

Whose name is missing here?

Even if you are not a Paul supporter, doesn’t it strike you as odd that the one GOP candidate with a huge youth following isn’t mentioned here?  From NRO

YAF Straw Poll   [John J. Miller]

What GOP presidential candidate do young conservatives prefer for 2012?

I had a chance to ask this morning, during my talk at the national conference of the Young America’s Foundation. The audience was about 250 conservative student activists. Their views are of course not representative of the general population, college students, or even conservatives. But they do represent something ? a level of energy and enthusiasm on the Right. They are an interesting micro-demographic. Their opinions matter.

Here’s how we did it. I read a list of eight potential candidates: Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Daniels (a suggestion from the floor), and ? just for fun ? Gen. David Petraeus. I emphasized that nobody was committing to anything. This was not a swearing of allegiance. Instead, it was a snap poll on preferences today. Then I read the names a second time, one by one, and asked for show of hands.

The result: Romney was the easy winner, with Jindal clearly in second place. Each of the others had scattered support. I was suprised by Palin’s poor showing. She was buried among the also-rans. Petraeus didn’t win a big show of hands, but the suggestion of his candidacy was received with applause: Young conservatives are clearly open and intrigued by the idea and would like to know more.

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