WASHINGTON (AP) - A straw poll at a summit on Saturday showed that Rep. Mike Pence is a candidate some Republican voters are considering for their 2012 presidential nominee.
Pence, whose Indiana district includes Ball State University, finished in a four-way tie for second in a poll conducted at the Values Voter Summit in Washington.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Pence each received 12 percent of the vote. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a favorite among religious conservatives to be president in 2012, was tops with 28 percent of the vote.
About one-third of the 1,800 registered attendees at the summit cast ballots indicating their preference among potential GOP candidates.
Those casting ballots also listed their top issues. They were abortion, protection of religious liberties, same-sex marriage and tax cuts.
Republicans at the Values Voter Summit Saturday talked of a growing political rebellion in the country, even as they acknowledged Democrats currently have the upper hand.Romney recalled the euphoria among Democrats at the time President Barack Obama was elected.
"A year ago, there were quite a few people who were ready to write off this movement. They were enthralled by Barack Obama's promise of near-Biblical transformations," Romney said in comments prepared for Saturday's meeting. "Well, he can still spin a speech, but he can't spin his record."
Romney said Obama's spending and borrowing have weakened the nation, noting that Obama's plans will greatly increase the deficit. The deficits combined with coming problems for the country's entitlement programs will cause more severe economic problems, he said.
Romney reflects conservatives' growing confidence when he taunts Democrats, saying "I'll bet you never dreamed you'd look back at Jimmy Carter as the good old days." Romney's reference to Carter recalled the economic and international troubles at the time Carter lost his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan.
House Republican leader John Boehner says nationwide protests known as "tea parties" are the result of resistance against Democrats' spending. Boehner says his Democratic colleagues are "bankrupting" the country.
People are demonstrating and attending town hall meetings because, Boehner says, "we're in the midst of a political rebellion in America."
And Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the group that Republicans could be considered a threatened species because they went to Washington and started spending like liberals. But Perry said because of groups like the people gathered for the Values Voter Summit, conservatives are returning to the principles of personal freedom and cautious spending that have made them successful in the past.
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