Obama, Paul big winners in ISU straw poll

Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a forum Tuesday in Pella, Iowa. (Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images)

NORMAL – If local college students had their way, the 2012 race would be between President Barack Obama and Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

That’s according to a new straw poll, sponsored by Illinois State University’s American Democracy Project, which surveyed 426 students.

The GOP part of the poll was won by Paul, a Texas Republican, who took 35 percent of the vote. Next were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (19 percent) and businessman Herman Cain (16 percent).

ISU professor Steve Hunt said it’s no surprise. He said Paul’s message – from economics to an antiwar foreign policy – resonates with young voters.

“He talks about issues that they’re concerned about, whether it’s student loan debt that they’re facing, the cost of college, the issues with unemployment,” Hunt said. “But he also talks about, generally, the idea that government shouldn’t be in your business.”

Obama, however, won the overall poll with 43 percent of the vote. Paul finished second, with 24 percent of that vote.

The poll also found 93 percent of participants plan to vote in the 2012 election. Hunt said that result debunked his own concerns that the Occupy Wall Street movement was some indication that young voters were so turned off by the political process that they’d not go to the polls.

“There is a little more sentiment out there in this younger generation, that they need to vote, and they want to,” Hunt said.

The students surveyed attend ISU, Heartland Community College, Lincoln College-Normal, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

It was conducted Oct. 29-Nov. 2.

Ryan Denham can be reached at ryan@wjbc.com.