With Jeremy Herb: In their first national head-to-head presidential match-up, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann tied at 4 percent in the Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll on Saturday, finishing sixth and seventh. As expected, Texas Rep. Ron Paul was the runaway winner for the second-straight year with 30 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of Pawlenty's main 2012 rivals, finished second with 23 percent, and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson - who has a platform of legalizing marijuana - finished third.
Many CPAC-goers say Paul's victory is a skewed barometer of conservative sentiment. Hundreds of student backers of the libertarian favorite, including 700 Young Americans for Liberty, vowed to "take CPAC by storm" to support the Texas congressman. Only 3,742 of the 11,000 conference attendees participated.
Pawlenty and Bachmann finished in the middle of a pack of 15 GOP hopefuls, with all but Paul and Romney registering in single digits. Actual vote tallies weren't released, but Pawlenty was listed as the sixth place finisher, one notch above Bachmann in seventh place. If you add up first and second choices on the "combo ballot," Bachmann actually bested Pawlenty 10 percent to 9 percent overall. (Bachmann for VP?)
Last year, Pawlenty finished fourth in the straw poll with 6 percent of the vote, but the field was bigger this time, including newcomers like Bachmann.
They both did better than Sarah Palin (3 percent) and Mike Huckabee (2 percent). But neither of those two marquee conservatives showed up.
Pawlenty's criss-crossing the country over the past year garnered him some new supporters, like George Chianis of Amherst, N.H., who heard Pawlenty speak in New Hampshire.
"I just think that he's a true conservative and he will reduce the size of government," said Chianis, adding that he plans to volunteer for Pawlenty's campaign. "With his record that he had as governor of Minnesota, I align with his past and what he says he'd do for the future of this country."
Among Bachmann's most enthusiastic supporters was Teresa Acosta, a TheTeaParty.net organizer from Saratoga, Calif., who said she once called Bachmann's office to encourage her to run for president. "There's something about her," Acosta said. "She's very charismatic. She's friendly, and she comes across as confident. I think people really responded to her well."
Ralf Augstroze, a Pennsylvania native who supports Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said he thought Pawlenty had good values, but not enough charisma to win a popular vote. "He lacks that spark," Augstroze said.
The biggest knock against Bachmann was that she was too new to the scene, lacking the experience to mount a presidential bid. Joshua Nehmeh, a banker from California, said he was impressed with Bachmann as a "conservative spokeswoman." But as a presidential candidate? "I'm not sure… I think a few more years down the road." Bachmann Chief of Staff Andy Parrish, in a statement after CPAC wrapped up, said "Congresswoman Bachmann is grateful for the support of all those who voted for her in the CPAC straw poll, and the encouragement of so many who have urged her to run for President." Pawlenty's camp was not expected to make a statement, but he's sure to be asked about it during a scheduled appearance on ABC's This Week Sunday morning.