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U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, made a flawed poll claim. Our check of his declaration was the year's No. 7 reader favorite.
After seemingly finishing third in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Paul told supporters that "today there was a national poll that came out and they were talking about how many people supported the gold standard. How long has it been since they've taken a national poll on the gold standard? And guess what? The majority of the American people believe we should have a gold standard and not a paper standard" for U.S. currency.
Paul, by the way, ultimately drew 22 of the Iowa delegation's 28 votes cast at the Republican National Convention, nearly 79 percent, as noted by the Des Moines Register on Aug. 28, 2012. In other words, he outpaced all comers in that state.
The voter polls his campaign later cited to back up this claim surveyed likely Republican primary voters in three states--not voters nationwide. Separately, the single national poll that addressed the gold question found 44 percent in favor of a gold standard, not a majority.
On balance, we rated Paul’s poll shout as False.
You can see that check to the right along with the Truth-O-Meter articles that proved to be the No. 8, 9 and 10 reader favorites of 2012--including our review of another Paul claim.
Look here Dec. 24 for the No. 6 reader favorite of the year.
Clarification, 10:30 a.m., Dec. 21, 2012: Thanks to a reader's nudge, this story was amended to show that while Paul was considered to be in third place immediately after the Iowa caucuses, he later won nearly 80 percent of the Iowa delegate votes cast at the Republican National Convention--meaning he bested the other hopefuls there.
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