Ron Paul wins 2012 Republican straw poll in New Orleans (Reuters)

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Representative Ron Paul easily won a Republican Leadership Conference straw poll of the party's 2012 presidential contenders on Saturday, with former U.S. envoy to China Jon Huntsman finishing second.

Paul, who brought busloads of supporters to the conference, won with 612 votes in the nonbinding preference poll of nearly 2,000 delegates from 38 states who attended the gathering.

Huntsman finished second with 382 votes, Representative Michele Bachmann was third with 191 votes and businessman Herman Cain was fourth with 104 votes.

Huntsman, a former Utah governor, is set announce his bid for the White House on Tuesday.

No other candidate broke triple digits. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who leads national opinion polls in the 2012 Republican race for the nomination to challenge President Barack Obama, was fifth with 74 votes.

"This win is just the latest indicator of how the majority of American opinion is turning in Ron Paul's direction," said Jesse Benton, his campaign chairman.

Paul, Bachmann and Cain addressed the New Orleans conference on Friday. Huntsman was scheduled to speak but canceled because of illness. Romney and Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who earned 18 votes, skipped the event.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke on Thursday, had 69 votes. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who says she is considering becoming a candidate, had 41 votes. She also did not appear at the conference.

Former Senator Rick Santorum, who also spoke on Friday, had 30 votes.

Romney narrowly won the straw poll at the annual conference last year over Paul, but the survey has not been a reliable predictor of success. Bill Frist, who was Senate Republican leader at the time, won in 2006 and failed to ever get his campaign off the ground.

Texas Governor George W. Bush won in 1998, two years before he captured the White House.

(Editing by Xavier Briand)

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry Thrills Republican Audience in New Orleans (ContributorNetwork)

ANALYSIS | Texas Governor Rick Perry threw some more fuel on the fires of speculation of a run for the presidency in a stem winder of a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans that had the audience chanting, "Run, Rick, run!" according to National Journal.

The twenty minutes address was seen as a model for a campaign stump speech should Perry decide to run. Perry attacked the Obama administration for its mishandling the economy and running up $1 trillion plus deficits, allocated a little bit of scorn for some Republicans for what he saw as going wobbly on social issues, and considerable boasting of his record as governor of Texas. There were the obligatory nods to President Reagan and the 10th Amendment, which limits the power of the federal government in favor of the states.

The enthusiastic response at the New Orleans conference to Perry's red meat speech suggests that there is still a hunger among the Republican electorate for a candidate that will show passion and thus stir the same among the voters. Perry seems to fit that role, at least as indicated from the reaction from the 2,000 person audience of his speech.

Of course there are still hurdles between Perry and getting the Republican nomination, not to speak of sending President Obama packing from the White House.

First, he has to want to do it. A run for the presidency, if it is to be successful, must occupy a candidate's entire being, will, and desire. Perry has to decide if he is ready for that commitment.

Next, Perry has to win the contest among conservative candidates for the honor of the final showdown between that winner and current front runner Mitt Romney. Rep. Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain are already vying for that position. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may also get into the race.

Then, of course, Perry has to beat Romney. The contest will be a classic Republic clash between an establishment, moderate candidate and an outsider, conservative.

Finally, Perry has to beat President Obama.

Perry's opponents are already casting about for an attack narrative to try to blunt a possible Perry run for the presidency. Some seem to have hit upon the theme of "Perry is a more macho version of the last president from Texas." "More extreme" was also a phase that was used.

Considering that one of the most popular images on the Internet is a poster of former President Bush with the caption "Miss Me Yet?" this is an attack strategy that might backfire. A fantasy match up poll taken late last year actually had former President Bush beating President Obama in a hypothetical race.

If the Democrats are going to call Perry the second coming of Bush, but more so, that might turn out to be more of a feature than a bug.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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