I’ve always taken Public Policy Polling’s (PPP’s) data with a grain of salt as they are perceived as left-leaning. That said, I think their results have generally been fairly reliable in the past (vs. say, Zogby). Caveats out of the way, I noticed a very interesting poll result that bodes well for a potential Romney candidacy.
You can read the full write-up here. They don’t provide raw data or cross tabs, so here’s the summary. PPP asked voters nationwide who are undecided about their vote in the upcoming congressional election their favorable vs. unfavorable perception of a range of politicians. The breakdown of the undecided population was 14% Democratic, 21% Republican, and a whopping 65% Independent. Below is a list of the politicians they asked about, and the resulting Unfavorable rating:
- Barack Obama – 44% Unfavorable
- Hillary Clinton – 31%
- Michelle Obama – 28%
- Bill Clinton – 39%
Republicans:
- Sarah Palin – 65% (Highest among all politicians tested)
- Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich - 41%
- Mike Huckabee – 33%
- Mitt Romney – 25% (Lowest among all politicians tested)
Of course, 2012 is still a long way away, but it is clear that 1) Sarah Palin is a double edged sword…great currency within the Republican Party, but extremely challenged outside, and 2) as of now, Mitt has the best chance of winning votes among Independents.
Separately, Mitt is doing a webcast at the Heritage Foundation in about 45 min at 3:45pm EDT. I don’t know if there are any membership requirements for participating (I am a member), but just in case, try clicking over to Heritage at 3:45 PM and check it out.
UPDATE:
Reader Doug NYC GOP has posted a related article over at Right-o-Sphere which I would highly recommend. He covers some additional polling data which shows that Mitt is leading the early polling even among the Tea Partiers, which is great news!
Mr. Principal Chair,
Very good post. I wrote a similar piece on Rightosphere, but I also cited Mitt’s positive support with the Tea Party and his campaign efforts for others. I invite and welcome you to take a look: Romney Tops GOP with Undecided (&Tea Party) Voters
Many thanks, Doug
Hi Doug NYC GOP, excellent post over on Rightosphere. I highly recommend it to all MRC readers! Great news to see that Mitt is polling well among Tea Partiers despite the flash and bling that the Media and blog-o-sphere is showering on other potential candidates.
Mitt has played an extremely smart game-plan for the off season. His low profile, except when hand-picking certain issues to speak out on has served him well to maintain relevance and inhibit overexposure at the same time. Kudos to his strategy team.
It has been noticed in his speeches that he is nearly completely avoiding commenting much on social issues. It’s true that he appeared to court the socons to hard last time and he should lighten up, but in this regard I think it is a slight over correction. The bad thing about it is I KNOW he is a socon. He just gets beat up about it every time he speaks his beliefs. Thus is politics.
Mitt Romney for President! He is the best in every, way shape and form.