Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) won a second-consecutive victory in the annual Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll Saturday, and it wasn't even close. Paul captured 31 percent of the vote, putting him well ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) who came in second with 11 percent.
Unfortunately for Paul, CPAC's marquee event is largely an indicator of which candidate's supporters bothered to vote in a purely symbolic popularity contest, and it has almost no predictive value for future presidential primaries. Paul's father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), won the poll in 2010 and 2011, while other past winners who did not go on to win the White House, nor even the GOP primary, include Steve "flat tax" Forbes, Phil Gramm, Rudy Giuliani, and George Allen. Mitt Romney did win the poll four times, but he flopped in the 2008 GOP primary despite winning at CPAC that year and the year prior.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 11, 2025Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - shark-infested waters, Mother's Day, and more
-
5 fundamentally funny cartoons about the US ConstitutionCartoons Artists take on Sharpie edits, wear and tear, and more
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western islesThe Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney postspeed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff dealspeed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffsspeed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying reportspeed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop banspeed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff ideaspeed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitutionspeed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
