by

Micah J. Fleck

[dropcap size=small]G[/dropcap]ood news for Rand Paul supporters: you’re in the company of Ivy League college students. Which means you can all go on to complain about his ultimate 2016 GOP nomination loss together as you meet at the golden water cooler at your cushy banking job in a few years. Or not. But either way, thank the spirit of John Galt for small blessings, right?

On Wednesday, September 23rd, Columbia University held a GOP candidates straw poll hosted by the Columbia University College Republicans (CUCR) following a friendly night of debating and mingling. Andy Truelove, the event organizer, asked this reporter about personal candidate preference . I told him I wanted Rand Paul to win the nomination, but that it was highly unlikely. However, I got an interesting response: “Well, Dr. Paul came in tied at second place in this straw poll.”

Indeed, the final count, as confirmed by Mr. Truelove for The Libertarian Republic today, was as follows:

33.33% Rubio

20% Paul

20% Bush

20% Trump

3.33% Carly

3.33% Kasich

While it’s disappointing Dr. Paul has to share this #2 spot with two other candidates, the three-way tie means things are far from settles as to who should lead this country – specially among college age voters. For Paul to reach such a high number at such an outwardly liberal school also deserves to be applauded and pointed out. But once one digs a little deeper, it still makes a lot of sense.

For one thing, his policies are much more in line with the general youth demographic, regardless of political affiliation – what with him being in favor of pot legalization and against perpetual warfare at the hands of the U.S. military, Dr. Paul has always been a bit of a ‘hippy.’ Another aspect to take into account is the place these results are coming from – an Ivy League school with an arguably above-average student body. If one were to look for an intelligent Republican, it might just be here he could find the last among them. Smart people recognize other smart people, even among larger-than-life politicians.

It’s been reported elsewhere that Dr. Paul’s youth support is much larger than the mainstream news media is admitting by way of omitting and/or downplaying it in their own polls. Trump’s numbers, of course, have already been shown as slipping as of late, and even lower when isolated to minority voters. While this is a college-specific poll, his numbers appearing fairly consistent with the rest of the results seen elsewhere bodes well for Paul and Bush, who might be able to likewise expect a reflection of tonight’s results bleeding into the mainstream. The youth vote is an oft-underestimated one, and this poll is doing more to reflect the true hearts and minds of the next generation of Americans than the 24-hr news powerhouses.

Regardless of where the 2016 GOP race goes from here, it looks like – among the brightest young Republican voters, at least – things have finally started to get interesting.