CPAC Straw Poll

CPAC Straw Poll, Mitt Romney is back in the lead — at least symbolically — of the topsy-turvy Republican nomination race, going two for two on Saturday.

He won the influential Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll here Saturday with 38% support to Rick Santorum’s 31%, and he beat Ron Paul in Maine to cinch that state’s non-binding caucuses.

Romney won in Maine with 39% support to Paul’s 36%.

“I thank the voters of Maine for their support,” Romney said in a statement Saturday night. “I’m committed to turning around America, and I’m heartened to have the support of so many good people in this great state.”

Both wins are largely symbolic, though, as Maine’s 21 delegates will be divvied up in May.

Paul, who campaigned harder in Maine than any other candidate hoping for his first win in the GOP primary, told supporters Saturday night he thinks he’ll get the majority of Maine’s delegates eventually, and vowed to stay in the race.

“It would have been great to win outright the straw vote, but it will be even greater to win the delegate vote,” he said. “We’re not going to go away. We’re going to be in all these places where we’ll continue to pick up delegates for one good reason — we have the message that America needs at this particular time.”

In the CPAC straw poll, Newt Gingrich finished third with 15%, and libertarian-leaning Paul finished last with 12%.

Neither Santorum nor Gingrich campaigned in Maine, and finished with 18% and 6% respectively.

Four years ago, Romney won the CPAC straw poll, but bowed out of the race and endorsed John McCain.

He also won the Maine caucuses in 2008 with more than 50% support. But with just over 5,000 people voting in Maine Saturday, less than 200 votes separated Romney and Paul.

CPAC 2012

CPAC 2012, Four years ago, Mitt Romney took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to exit the 2008 presidential race.

On Friday, Romney was the on-again, off-again frontrunner for the GOP 2012 nomination looking to score enough points with conservative activists, volunteers and media members to earn what American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas called “the ultimate seal of approval in terms of authenticity from conservatives.”

While that seal of approval wasn’t necessarily evident after Romney’s appearance, he used his speech in Northwest Washington, D.C. to rip President Obama’s record and highlight his own conservative credentials.

“My family, my faith, my businesses – I know conservatism because I have lived conservatism,” Romney said. “As the governor of Massachusetts I had the unique experience of defending conservative principles in the most liberal state in the nation.”

He contrasted his record with Obama’s, who he called “the poster child for the arrogance of government.”

“This election is really a battle for the soul of America,” Romney continued. “Whether we want a nation of and by Washington, or a nation of and by a free people. And we conservatives believe in freedom and free people and free enterprises.”

He even managed a few deft digs at two of his main opponents, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“Any politician that tries to convince you that they hated Washington so much that they just couldn’t leave,” Romney said. “Well, that’s the same politician that will try to sell you a bridge to nowhere.”

However, Romney was largely silent on two items that some attendees said they most wanted to see from the former Bain Capital executive: emotional outreach to voters and a discussion of his Massachusetts healthcare plan that created a state-run healthcare system.

Mr. Cardenas said that voters needed to see Mitt Romney speaking from his heart. Noting Herman Cain’s success at a CPAC straw poll last year, he added “No one gave Herman Cain, in Florida, a calling card about what he needed to say but he spoke from the heart and he spoke with conviction.”

“To hit a home run, you’ve got to cover all the bases and let people know you’re speaking from the heart,” said Cardenas, whose group puts on CPAC every year. “When your primary focus in life has been a successful career in business, you want to make sure that people also know the emotional side of you.