CPAC Poll Stopping Gay Marriage Not Priority

The social conservative agenda appeared to take a hit in straw poll results over the weekend from the Conservative Political Action Conference. Only 1% of respondents said that stopping gay marriage ranked as their top priority in results that revealed a decidedly libertarian streak, with Ron Paul picked as the 2012 presidential favorite.

According to Hot Air, students and people age 25 and under constituted the majority of respondents, which suggests the poll holds even more implications for the years ahead than the present day:

"Granted, students comprised 48 percent of the sample -- how else could Paul have won? -- but that might be less significant as evidence that the poll's an outlier than as evidence that it may not be such an outlier a few years from now. (More than half the votes cast in the poll were by those 25 years old or younger.)"

Respondents picked Paul, a Texas congressman and 2008 presidential candidate, as their 2012 presidential favorite with 31%, ahead of last year's pick, Mitt Romney, who received 22%. Sarah Palin took 7% and Tim Pawlenty won 6%.

The antigay agenda seemed to take a nosedive in another poll question, according to Hot Air, where only 9% said their most important goal was to promote traditional values by protecting "traditional" marriage and the lives of the unborn. In contrast, 80% listed their top goal as protecting individual liberty by reducing the size and shape of government.

The poll was criticized for surveying only 2,935 respondents, the majority of them young, out of 10,000 CPAC registrants.