TribBlog: Mr. President?

For the last few days, prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidates paraded before the faithful at the annual CPAC conference. While there's no great signficance to be taken from a straw poll of conservative activists this early, the favorite in the room at the conclusion of the gathering turned out to be U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, who made more than his share of headlines — but won not a single primary or caucus — when he ran for the White House in '08. That said, his victory illustrates the predicament for the GOP: As much as they dislike the current guy in the job, no single frontrunner has emerged to unite the party. Yet.

The straw poll results:

Ron Paul 31%
Mitt Romney 22%
Sarah Palin 7%
Tim Pawlenty 6%
Mike Pence 5%
Newt Gingrich 4%
Mike Huckabee 4%
Mitch Daniels 2%
John Thune 2%
Rick Santorum 2%
Haley Barbour 1%