Romney Leads Gallup's Open Ended Survey
(H/T: Race42012)
Gallup: Just off the top of your head, which Republican would you most like to see as the party’s candidate for president in the 2012 election?
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: Romney!
OK, so everyone didn’t shout ‘Romney!’ in unison, but he did win the largest percentage. It is interesting to me that this was an open-ended question and no answers were suggested to respondents. One commenter at Race42012 makes an excellent observation:
This is best a measurement of the awareness of registered voters, where almost 2/3rds either don’t know or don’t have a clue. Of the 1/3rd who “may” be listening, Romney receives 44% and Palin 34%. No one else garners as much as 10%.
Also of note from the Gallup report is a little tidbit that speaks volumes of Romney’s electability in both the primary and general elections:
Whereas conservative (15%) and moderate or liberal (14%) Republicans are about equally likely to mention Romney as their preferred nominee, Palin is much more likely to be mentioned by conservatives (14%) than by moderates and liberals (3%). Conservatives generally outnumber moderates and liberals by about 2 to 1 within the Republican Party.
And lastly:
At this point, Romney and Palin can be considered the early front-runners for the GOP nomination, a position that has proven advantageous in most past Republican nomination campaigns.
My last thought: Did anyone notice Scott Brown’s name up there in 4th place above some who may actually run for office. This brings two thoughts to mind. One, very little people are actually paying attention this early in the game as Scott Brown will certainly not be running in 2012, nor will McCain (#3) for that matter. Two, as much as I like Scott Brown, isn’t it extremely premature to judge his qualification for the top office? Don’t many of us Republicans complain that Obama was an unknown entity when he began to run just two years into his first term as Senator? Let’s give him some time to prove his meddle, and not give into the mania of the day.
~Nate Gunderson
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Forgot the link to the original article to Gallup. Fixed it.
First of all, they weren’t asked who would be the best or even the most likely nominee; they just asked who we’d like to have as the nominee. Thus, it’s not surprising or even inappropriate to suggest Scott Brown (or John McCain, for that matter). Second, I’m skeptical of the assertion that being at the top of the list is such a great place to be for a prospective candidate. Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton were at the top three years ago, by double digits, in fact, and Mitt Romney and Barack Obama weren’t even considered serious challengers.
That being said, I actually believe Sarah Palin would and could do more for this country as a private citizen than as a candidate or even as president. If Romney wins the nomination and chooses Palin as his running mate, then I won’t have anything to say; but he certainly would have options.
http://youngconservative27.blogspot.com/
I would like to see a Romney/Brown ticket for 2012. Let’s remember Scott Brown is very popular for saving us from Obama’s government take-over of our health-care system. Many Americans will not forget that, and it would help to get Romney elected, too.
I think Romney/Thune is a winning ticket.