Butlering the American Presidency: Is white America safe w/another black president - even if he's a Republican whose maybe even better educated & craftier than Obama? What if he's a radical black in GOP clothing?

Washington (CNN)Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson handily won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll on Saturday, the first major survey to take the temperature of the Republican presidential field in the south.

Carson, a staunch opponent of Obamacare who is popular among social conservatives, captured 25.4% of the vote in a pool that counted nearly 20 candidates, including announced and prospective hopefuls for the party's 2016 nomination. Runners-up Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also received large shares of the vote, finishing with 20.5% and 16.6%, respectively.

The SRLC said in a press release that the survey is one of the first straw polls of the 2016 cycle "and is an indicator of southern primary voter support."

"This was an energetic and inspiring conference," conference chair Steve Fair said in the release. "If the level of interest in this straw poll is any indicator, a Republican candidate will be well positioned to retake the White House in 2016." (CNN Politics)