HOTAIR.COM
DECEMBER 19, 2011 BY TINA KORBE
Newt Gingrich might have dropped to third in Iowa — and he and Romney might be neck-and-neck in the latest CNN poll, but, among thousands of Tea Party activists from across the country, Gingrich retains a clear lead.
Tea Party Patriots — the nation’s largest Tea Party organization — last night hosted a Presidential Tele Forum with Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. (The other candidates were invited to participate, but declined because of scheduling conflicts, said Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots.) Each candidate had 10 minutes to respond to questions from local Tea Party coordinators. After the question-and-answer portion, the call organizers asked listeners to vote for one candidate as their preferred nominee.
About 23,000 Tea Party activists joined the call and a significant portion of them voted in the straw poll, according to a news release. Of those who voted, 31 percent selected Newt Gingrich as their No. 1, 28 percent selected Michele Bachmann, 20 percent selected Mitt Romney and 16 percent selected Rick Santorum. The three non-participating candidates polled very poorly: Ron Paul garnered 3 percent of the vote, Rick Perry 2 percent and Jon Huntsman 0.3 percent.
Activists also identified their enthusiasm levels for each candidate:
True to the mission of the Tea Party Patriots, the call emphasized questions of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets. The candidates clearly laid out their plans to repeal Obamacare, balance the federal budget, gut budget gimmicks, reduce regulation, reform the big three entitlement programs, eliminate crony capitalism, achieve tax reform and audit the Fed.
I listened in on the call last night and revisited my recorded audio again this morning in light of the results. Predictably, all of the candidates sounded their most conservative in this particular setting, but, both last night and this morning, I surprised myself by finding Mitt Romney the most impressive. He truly answered every question he was asked — no #dodges whatsoever.
And, at the end of the 10-minute segment, he delivered this inspired quote, which I found particularly compelling:
Now, I’m kind of curious as to what the Tea Party activists heard that made them choose Newt Gingrich as their No. 1.
