Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has won the CPAC 2013 straw poll.  Hooray! However, it’s not true. Contrary to what the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, the Washington Times (who conducted the poll), CBS, and CNN, have reported Sen. Paul tied with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), which places him in a good position for 2016.

Aaron Blake for the Post wrote:

Paul won 25 percent of the vote in a field of potential 2016 GOP presidential contenders, clearing the support level of second-place finisher Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who took 23 percent. Former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) took 8 percent, while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who was not invited to CPAC, took 7 percent.

Yes, the CPAC straw poll isn’t a good indicator for 2016.  Case in point, Rep. Ron Paul won the 2011 poll.  However, in polling, a difference of 2 percentage points is a tie, and we should consider it as such.

Here are the full results.