Cpac

Ron Paul again triumphed in the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, overwhelming the support for most other potential Republican candidates at the annual gathering of conservatives in the nation's capital. Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas who ran for president in 2008, edged former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 30% to 23%. The result was barely changed from last year's, when Paul won 31% to 22%. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each had 6% of the vote, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 5%. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who did not speak at the three-day gathering, had 3% of the vote.

WASHINGTON -- Steaming toward a White House bid, Mitt Romney addressed CPAC on its second day Friday, charging that Barack Obama has failed to lead on national security and the economy, calling him a "weak president. " Romney was introduced by his wife, Ann, who in essence made his long-expected entry in the 2012 presidential field official by saying she hoped to see him elected. The former Massachusetts governor told a packed hotel ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference that "an uncertain world has been made more dangerous by the lack of clear direction.

Tim Pawlenty and John Thune, two Midwesterners and possible 2012 presidential contenders, cast themselves as fiscal warriors before a receptive political action conference crowd Friday. Pawlenty, the former two-term governor of Minnesota, is likely to jump in the race, perhaps soon. Thune, a senator from South Dakota who is relatively unknown nationally but viewed as a rising star in conservative circles, is less so. Speaking to a record gathering at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, both decried what they termed a runaway expansion of government under President Barack Obama.

Newt Gingrich, speaking to a packed house Thursday at CPAC and sounding much like a Republican presidential candidate for 2012, challenged President Obama to adopt GOP policies on energy, environment and the economy to convince the American public that he's committed to a centrist approach. Along those lines, Gingrich -- speaker of the House during the Clinton administration -- said Obama should follow the lead of President Clinton, who worked with congressional Republicans on welfare reform, spending cuts and balancing the budget.

Rep. Michele Bachmann on Thursday opened up a three-day CPAC gathering of the nation's conservatives by celebrating the achievements of the "tea party" movement and warning of the policies of the Obama administration, saying that the president had "ushered in socialism. " Greeted by a raucous crowd, Bachmann, a tea-party favorite, said the movement had upended establishment Washington. "If there was ever a time to make a change, this was it and you did it," she told a packed hotel ballroom.

Developer and reality-show star Donald Trump added a touch of glitz and hubris to the CPAC conference Thursday, making a surprise and somewhat surreal appearance to tell the crowd that he still has not decided whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012. "This country is in serious trouble," Trump said. He said the United States "is becoming the laughingstock of the world. " "America is missing quality leadership," he said. "I am well acquainted with winning.

Some prominent right-wing groups say they will not attend a major Republican gathering in Washington next month, objecting to the presence of gay groups and other organizations whose aims they say are incompatible with conservatism. An estimated 10,000 people are expected to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, to hear aspiring presidential candidates and vote in one of the first straw polls of the 2012 cycle. Among the missing will be the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group and once a sponsor of CPAC; the Heritage Foundation; and the American Family Assn.

Energized by an increasingly favorable political environment, the nation's conservatives gathered here Thursday speaking optimistically of seizing control this year of Congress and, ultimately, the White House. But finding the fault lines beneath the message wasn't difficult. All one had to do was walk around the corner. As a crowd stood in a hotel ballroom to applaud former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a onetime presidential candidate who sounds like he is preparing for another run, a conservative Senate candidate in a neighboring room was talking about the enemy, and he didn't mean Democrats.