Jose Luis Magana/AP
Nothing’s gonna stop him now. Ted Cruz won the 2016 straw poll Saturday night at the Value Voters Summit—blowing away his competitors in a matchup that points to where the faithful Republican voters’ allegiance lies. Cruz won 42 percent of the votes, while anti-Obamacare darling Ben Carson—a medical doctor with no political experience—came in second with 13 percent, just barely beating out 2012 conservative favorite Rick Santorum. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Paul Ryan all trailed Santorum. Although many inside the Beltway dismissed Cruz’s 21-hour speech as a stunt, polls show that his name recognition has jumped 20 percentage points since June—but his unfavorably ratings also jumped 18 percentage points. Meanwhile, the hardcore conservatives at the Value Voters Summit are apparently not that concerned with recent polls that showed national disgust with the GOP.