Ron Paul dominates Iowa straw poll, Libertarian Party courts him

Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul easily defeated his rivals in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday, as the Libertarian Party's leadership began openly pressing Paul to run under their ticket.

Iowa's National Federation of Republic Assemblies Presidential Preference Convention and Straw Poll released its results on Saturday, and Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul was by far the favorite, taking a commanding 82 percent of the vote, as the Paul campaign reported on their web site. The Iowa straw poll tallied the votes of GOP activists operating within the state, and Paul's landslide victory reflected the organization his campaign has maintained in Iowa. “In Iowa, Ron Paul continues to engage and inspire concerned voters at town hall meetings and in other settings. This contest, however, shows that Dr. Paul and his campaign have tremendous organization strength. Iowa voters are ready for when the opportunity to vote for Ron Paul arises, and today they have done just that quite decisively,” Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton stated in the Paul campaign's press release. Paul dominated the Iowa contest, with restaurant executive Herman Cain taking a distant second place at 14.7 percent. Even among non-Iowans who voted in the straw poll, Paul was the winner. "In the tally of non-Iowans who voted, Paul won 26% followed by Cain at 25%, Perry and Santorum tied at 16%, Gingrich at 11%, Bachmann at 6%, Romney at 1%, and Huntsman and Johnson with 0%," CNN's Shannon Travis wrote. But while Paul's Iowa results were impressive, it is widely believed among those in the Libertarian Party that he will not receive the Republican Party's nomination. And for this reason, the Libertarian Party has begun to court Paul openly. As ABC News reported on Monday, the Libertarian Party's leadership would be more than happy to have Ron Paul run on their presidential ticket. “Absolutely, that would be fabulous,” Jim Lesczynski, media relations director for the Manhattan Libertarian Party, told ABC News. Paul has not fully dismissed a third party run.