US Republican Paul wins straw poll

Ron Paul

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Republican Representative Ron Paul won a presidential straw poll on Saturday at a major gathering of party activists debating who should take on President Barack Obama in November 2012.

The result was largely a symbolic victory for the libertarian-oriented Paul, and was seen as unlikely to shape whom the party will ultimately pick as their candidate for the White House in a nominating convention more than a year away.

Paul, who says the United States must not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, won the contest with 612 votes, while former US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman came in a surprise second with 382 votes.

The frontrunner for the nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, got 74 votes, while former vice presidential candidate and conservative superstar Sarah Palin got 41.

When Paul's victory was announced, many of the Republican Leadership Conference delegates packed in a hotel ballroom in New Orleans began to boo loudly.

Ron Paul launches bid for GOP presidential nomination

Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, is running for president for a third time.

The libertarian-leading congressman said in an interview in Friday that voters are increasingly embracing his brand of conservatism.

“The people are agreeing with much I have been saying for 30 years,” Paul said, making his announcement from Manchester on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “The time is right.”

Paul, 75, who has finished strongly in several Republican straw polls, has an ardent, if small, fan base. He showed himself in 2008 to have some ability to raise money, pulling in more than $35 million.

He first ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988, and his views place him squarely outside the GOP mainstream. He opposes American intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in the Friday interview suggested that the United States was heading toward an invasion of Pakistan. He supports drug legalization, is a fierce critic of the Federal Reserve, and wants to sharply curtail the size of government.

He is the father of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has said he would not run for president if his father chose to make another bid.

The elder Paul said he could win the race. “Coming in No. 1 in the Republican primary is an absolute possibility,” he said.