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The Family Research Center conducted their own straw poll, which is made up of the James Dobson faction of the religious right - and lo and behold the winner was Ron Paul. That should be a significant victory for Paul, but Tony Perkins, their new leader and Value Voters organizer dismissed Paul's victory as an outlier and in essence denounced his own voters and the legitimacy of his own poll.
The "Values Voter" summit was held in Washington this past weekend. The event was sponsored by The Family Research Council, a social conservative group. The weekend got off to a rousing start Friday night when Robert Jeffress, a prominent Texas pastor, criticized Mitt Romney and his faith, calling Mormonism a "cult."
And in the Values Voter straw poll, Rep. Ron Paul came out on top with 37 percent of the vote.
This morning on American Morning, CNN's Carol Costello talks with Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, about Jeffress' controversial remarks and why he believes Ron Paul's straw poll win is insignificant.
He was so ridiculous that the TeaNN host just laughed at his rationale for dissing Paul's win.
Costello: So Ron Paul probably means nothing and Herman Cain does.
Perkins Well, this is...the majority of the people came there for a summit to hear all of the candidates. They didn't come there to support a particular candidate. They came to listen to the candidate and express their preference. Ron Paul bused in over six hundred people on Saturday morning not to attend a conference, but to just to hear his speech and vote.
There was early news made at this summit when Pastor Jeffress openly attacked Mitt Romney's Mormon faith by calling it a "cult." The results of the straw poll show a couple of other bad signs for Romney, the Republican Villagers choice for the nomination. First, the type of evangelical that is attracted to the FRC does indeed not trust Romney's religion at all and secondly, he finishes behind everyone one of the remaining GOP candidates outside of Gingrich, who align themselves with religion. Well, they all pander there, but still. Not good, Mittens.
Paul 37%
Cain; 23%
Santorum: 16%
Perry: 8%
Bachmann: 8%
Romney: 4%
Gingrich: 3%
Cain's strong showing is also indicative of the dissatisfaction the right-wing base has with its field and with Romney in general. Perry's immigration stand has eroded his support entirely in the Christian community and put his bid in terrible jeopardy for the nomination. So, they are trying to show America that they aren't racists this early in the process and are flocking to Cain, even though he has no chance of winning.
