Rand Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll By a Mile

For the second time in as many years, Rand Paul has won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. This year, he took 31% of the vote, far ahead of second-place Ted Cruz, who received 11%, the Washington Post reports. Behind Cruz were ex-neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with 9%, and Chris Christie, who scored a standing ovation at the conference, with 8%. The Post notes that the poll may not hold a lot of weight, since CPAC attendees make up just a small portion of the GOP. But the 2,500 who voted "typically hold outsized influence in the GOP's presidential selection process," notes the AP. (More Rand Paul stories.)