Monday, March 05, 2007

Tulsa Republican Presidential Straw Poll

Was cleaning out the pockets of some of my sport coats and came across some notes I took during last month's Tulsa County Republican Convention. I had intended to report on the Presidential straw poll results.

Even though the convention was lightly attended, the results are somewhat illuminating, given the national media's slant on who is leading the pack to be the next GOP nominee. Please remember, the people that attend these conventions, though small in number, influence a lot of voters on election day. While their favorites are widely dispersed among a large field of potential candidates, both announced and unannounced, the poll shows unsurprisingly that Tulsa's grassroots Republicans are looking for someone pretty conservative.

Here are the top ten vote-getters:
1. Newt Gingrich (Georgia - 20.5% )
2. Mike Huckabee (Arkansas - 15.5%)
T3. Condeleeza Rice (California - 12.5%)
T3. Rudy Guiliani (New York - 12.5%)
5. Tom Tancredo (Colorado - 11%)
6. John McCain (Arizona - 9.5%)
7. Mitt Romney (Massachusettes - 9%)
8. Sam Brownback (Kansas - 8.5%)
9. Frank Keating (Oklahoma -5.5%)
10. Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma - 2.5%)

Others receiving a handful of votes included George Allen, Tommy Thompson and George Pataki.

Newt Gingrich has yet to announce, saying he will make up his mind some time around September. It is speculated that he is waiting and watching to see if any true conservatives step forward to challenge for the nomination. According to the most recent national poll, Gingrich currently has 14% of party's support, compared to 44% for Guiliani and McCain at 21%.

Another interesting number in this straw poll centers around the issue of illegal immigration. The Tulsa County GOP Platform contained more than 10 planks that dealt, in some regard, with the issue. In fact, nearly 25% of the platform suggestions that came from the various precinct caucuses dealt with the grassroots frustration with this issue.

As such, it should come as no surprise that a relatively unknown Congressman from Colorado like Tom Tancredo out polled the well known Senator from Arizona, John McCain. You see, Tancredo is a favorite of Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist and McCain is a favorite with the "amnesty" crowd.

We'll see how things develop. Perhaps there will be another straw poll taken at the Oklahoma GOP convention in April.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Let me guess...Ron Paul wasn't even on the list. Geez. "Tulsa's grassroots Republicans are looking for someone pretty conservative." Ya right. /rolls eyes