Thune Dismisses CPAC Straw Poll
The Argus Leader reports:
Sen. John Thune said his poor showing in a national straw poll of 15 potential Republican presidential candidates this past weekend won't factor into whether he runs for the White House in 2012.
The unscientific poll of about 3,700 activists from all 50 states attending last week's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington was won by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 30 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 23 percent.
Thune, who says he will make the decision on running for president by the end of the month, came in 10th at 2 percent. He tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.When respondents were asked to list only their top two choices, Thune came in 11th at 5 percent.
Thune told the Argus Leader on Tuesday that he's not dismayed by the findings, which he thinks were "engineered" by supporters of certain candidates. Scores of Paul supporters, for example, could be seen packing the conference, and few political experts give the libertarian-leaning congressman much a chance of winning the GOP nomination."I think that poll is receiving less and less credibility and legitimacy because it's engineered by people who ship folks in for that," Thune said.
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