Mitt Romney, the only candidate with the money and organization to run a topflight national campaign, leads in the delegate count, but enthusiasm for him seems muted in the GOP base. On Saturday, Romney received a boost when he won the annual CPAC straw poll with 38 percent of the 3,408 votes cast.
And in Maine's GOP caucus, Romney managed a narrow win Saturday over Ron Paul, the only other candidate who campaigned aggressively in the state.
A resurgent Rick Santorum, a social conservative, beat Romney in three states last week, sparking enthusiasm and renewed interest at the conference. Newt Gingrich, who had been the top challenger to Romney and then faded after getting blown out in Florida, was not the subject of much buzz at CPAC, though he was warmly received late Friday afternoon, when he gave a speech filled with conservative applause lines.
In the Saturday straw poll, Santorum drew 31 percent, Gingrich was third with 15 percent, and Paul won 12 percent. Paul won the straw poll in the previous two years.
"I've been all over the map," said John Garvey, 64, an investor from Palm Beach, Fla., who raved Friday about Santorum's speech to the conference. "In marketing, you have to have a differential point, and Rick provides a great contrast to Obama, a clear message, and he has a great vision. Until he had the trifecta, I wasn't sure he could win, but now I'm about 90 percent converted."
In 2008, Garvey supported Romney, but not this time.
"He's smart, but he's a disaster as a candidate," Garvey said. "Fifty-nine points on an economic plan does not a vision make. He's a technocrat."
