Last Tuesday, August 23rd, Rasmussen released polling data which showed that voters who identified neither as Republican or Democrat preferred Texas congressman Ron Paul for president over current president Barack Obama by a margin of 10%. This was the widest margin of any of the current crop of Republican candidates and reflects the strength of Ron Paul’s message with independents and those who identify as third party voters. It also contradicts the mainstream media meme that Ron Paul can’t win.
Let’s review some of the reasons 2012 could be the year for a Ron Paul victory.
1) Paul Already Has a Record of Winning
Ron Paul consistently defeats more mainstream, GOP funded challengers during every Republican primary for Texas’s 14th Congressional District. In 2010, he won the seat by a 70% margin in a four-way race.
Ron Paul also won the CPAC straw poll in both 2010 and 2011. He won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference poll in 2011 after losing in 2010 by one vote to Mitt Romney. Most recently Paul had a very strong 2ndplace showing in the Iowa Straw Poll, losing to Michele Bachmann by less than 1% of the vote.
Ron Paul’s son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, along with Utah Senator Mike Lee, and Michigan Congressman Justin Amash won their respective races campaigning on what is essentially Ron Paul’s platform. These races demonstrate that Paul’s brand of principled conservatism can and will win over voters, particularly younger voters and independent voters.
2) Paul Has a Base of Loyal Young Voters
In the August 24, 2011 Gallup poll, Ron Paul was the candidate most preferred by Republicans and Republican-leaning voters aged 18 to 29. Many young voters supported Paul in his 2008 campaign. Now these same voters have become experienced campaigners and activists. The straw poll successes at CPAC, SRLC, and Iowa are directly related to the knowledge and enthusiasm of Paul’s young supporters and their desire to make Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign a success.
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