Palin Shares Runner-Up Title with Newt in SRLC Presidential Straw Poll Beauty Pageant

photo-paprlin-beauty-queen While Mitt Romney skipped the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans last week, Ron Paul attended and gave a speech that was enthusiastically received. In the SRLC straw poll — said to be the first vote in the GOP presidential beauty pageant — Romney and Paul tied with 24 percent of the vote. Romney won on a technical, however. He beat Paul by one vote, 439 to 438.

Here are the results:

Initial Choice

(If the primary election for president were held today, for whom would you vote?)

Newt Gingrich 18% (321)
Mike Huckabee 4% (80)
Gary Johnson 1% (3)
Sarah Palin 18% (330)
* Ron Paul 24% (438)
Tim Pawlenty 3% (54)
Mike Pence 3% (58)
* Mitt Romney 24% (439)
Rick Santorum 2% (41)

Second Choice

(Who would be your second choice in the Republican Primary Election for president?)

* Newt Gingrich 20% (339)
Mike Huckabee 11% (178)
Gary Johnson 6% (104)
* Sarah Palin 20% (332)
Ron Paul 6% (98)
Tim Pawlenty 7% (114)
Mike Pence 8% (141)
Mitt Romney 14% (242)
Rick Santorum 7% (125)

In case you wondered — Gary Johnson is the former governor of North Dakota. At 57, he’s a youngster in this crowd.

But doesn’t the inclusion of a second choice on the ballot sound like something rigged to ensure that Sarah Palin would win something? What other reason could there be — except to provide a runner-up (who is not Ron Paul) who can take over if the winner is unable to fulfill the duties of the straw poll winner, for whatever reason.

It’s also interesting that she tied for runner-up with Newt Gingrich, who is the master of the game of being completely unelectable as president — never ever gonna happen — and yet maintaining status as a possible candidate in order to score lucrative book deals and speaking gigs and face time on Fox News.

But it’s apt that this beauty pageant has runners-up, even if it’s a pageant where the contestants, except for Palin, a former runner up in a real beauty pageant, are all not particularly attractive middle-aged men — a fact that may explain why one of the SRLC’s sponsors was Pfizer, makers of Viagra.

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One thought on “Palin Shares Runner-Up Title with Newt in SRLC Presidential Straw Poll Beauty Pageant”

No Joe the Plumber? Considering who made this list, I’m surprised to see him overlooked. What a great selection. It’s a real good time to be a Republican, isn’t it?

Palin Shares Runner-Up Title with Newt in SRLC Presidential Straw Poll Beauty Pageant

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Poetic Justice

Verbatim

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“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

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Numerati

1,000

10%

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$9.5 billion

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470

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