Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin writes: Did Gov. Mitt Romney really win the Values Voter Straw Poll? My answer is an unequivocal "YES, Mitt Romney won", in spite of the Mike Huckabee controversy. FRC Action, the sponsor of both the Washington Briefing 2007: Values Voter Summit, and the Straw Poll, states that out of 5,775 votes, Governor Mitt Romney did indeed win. This list is from FRC's official press release:

Candidate Name Total Votes Percentage
1. Mitt Romney 1,595 27.62 %
2. Mike Huckabee 1,565 27.10 %
3. Ron Paul 865
14.98%
4. Fred Thompson 564 9.77 %
5. Sam Brownback 297 5.14 %
6. Duncan Hunter 140 2.42 %
7. Tom Tancredo 133 2.30 %
8. Rudy Giuliani 107 1.85 %
9. John McCain 81 1.40 % 1

* The full results can be accessed at www.frcaction.org 

Per FRC Action's same press release, the rules were: "'FRC Action members had the choice of voting on-line, by mail, or at electronic voting stations during this weekend's event. All presidential candidates from both parties were listed on the ballot.'" 1

FRC Action also mentioned, again in this same press release, that each person could only vote one time, no matter what method was being used, and that every person that voted electronically had to use a unique identifier in order to vote. 1

According to a Politico post by Jonathan Martin, "'Announcing the results, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the top four issues picked by voters were 1) abortion; 2) marriage; 3) tax cuts; and 4) permanent tax relief for families.'" 

"On the straw-poll ballot, the first question was: 'Which of the following candidates for President would you be most likely to vote for?' Voters were given the choice of 18 candidates, both Republican and Democratic, plus 'Undecided.'"

"The second question, with the same list, was: 'Which of the following candidates would be least acceptable to you as President of the United States?'"

"The third question was: 'Please indicate which issue is the most important in determining your opinion of the candidate that you will most likely vote for?' A dozen choices were provided, most of them priorities of social conservatives, plus tax cuts." 2

Charles Mitchell, the editor of Evangelicals for Mitt, a site I have often, and still do, refer to, wrote: "'I am seeing a lot of conservatives out there buying some ridiculous spin about this weekend's straw poll. Given the state of the Huckabee campaign, I don't think they can get the credit; more likely, all Governor Romney's rivals are deploying their press teams to try and deny him a victory.'" 

"'Many have already pointed out that the rules are the rules, and Governor Romney happened to follow them better than anyone else. But there are at least two pieces of this story that aren't being told. The first is that people at the conference did not have the opportunity to vote after Governor Romney's speech--which received a great deal of applause--whereas they did after Governor Huckabee's. Governor Romney spoke at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and the polls had closed at 6:00; Governor Huckabee spoke mid-morning on Saturday, and the polls were open.'"

"'The second point is perhaps the most important, and that is that the votes cast at the conference are not the same as the votes cast by people who were actually at the conference. Many people who were there, including Tony Perkins and his staff, voted online. So did most of EFM. The reason for that is that if you registered for the conference online, you got an e-mail like this one, which my wife received (emphasis added):'"

"Dear Charissa,

In an effort to serve you better we have created an online website that will be reserved to FRC Action Members. This section will include the latest poll numbers on the various presidential candidates, analysis of campaigns, presidential video voter guides and it also will permit you to participate in our annual Washington Briefing straw poll." 3 

The bottom line is this: Governor Mitt Romney won the FRC's 2008 Values Voter Straw Poll. Governor Mike Huckabee was an extremely close runner-up, but he did not win, contrary to what many bloggers in the blogosphere are claiming.

Also, I would like to point out that the "live blogging" report of Mitt Romney's speech, written and posted by Townhall's Kevin McCullough, and which I cited in my previous post,* corroborates what Charles Mitchell wrote (see above). I am referring to the fact that both writers mentioned the tremendous applause that Governor Mitt Romney received during his speech given on Friday night.* 4 

Kevin McCullough also wrote that there were two standing ovations, one when Governor Mitt Romney was first introduced by Jay Sekulow, and another during Mitt's speech; also, that people were applauding after almost every one of Mitt's statements.* 4

Let's fact the facts - Mitt Romney gave a powerful speech, and was on fire about conservative values on Friday night. Anyone can tell this by simply reading Kevin McCullough's exciting "live blogging" report.* 4

Governor Mitt Romney won, and Governor Mike Huckabee lost, pure and simple. The voting was fair, and cheating was not an option. Whether you want to accept the fact or not, Governor Mitt Romney may well end up being the first Mormon President of the United States of America.

Related Links

1 Romney Narrowly Edges Huckabee in Values Voter Straw
Poll 
   October, 20 2007

2 Romney takes Values Voters Straw Poll, Huckabee close second - By Jonathan Martin 02:58 PM - Click this link to read Jonathan Martin's entire article.

3 YOU GUYS DON'T GET IT - Posted by Charles Mitchell at 08:39 AM on October 21, 2007 - Click this link to read Charles Mitchell's entire article, and the entire email from FRC to Charissa.

4 "We're not going to beat Hillary Clinton by acting like Hillary Clinton!" Posted by: Kevin McCullough at 7:56 PM on Friday, October 19, 2007

http://www.mittromney.com/

http://www.mittromney.com/
Ann-Romney/index 

http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/

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The Conservative Wordsmith is currently the #1 Top Ten Blog on KRLA 870 AM Conservative Talk Radio.
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The Conservative Wordsmith is currently the #2 Top Ten Blog on Townhall.com.
http://www.townhall.com/youropinion/

*The original date of this revised post was
October 21, 2007.

Conservative Wordsmith Susan Baldwin, author of the Conservative Wordsmith Weblog, appreciates your thoughts and comments.