A new Pew Research Poll finds Mitt Romney has support of a plurality of Tea Party members:
“Twenty four percent of Tea Party backers have named the former Massachusetts Governor as the number one choice as a potential GOP presidential contender, the New York Daily News reports.
Romney beat out Tea Party favorites by double digits; Ron Paul received 13 percent and Palin received 12 percent. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee garnered 19 percent of the Tea Partiers’ support, while former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich received 15 percent.”
This is consistent with previous polls measuring which potential 2012 candidates tea partiers support. An earlier Mitt Romney Central article, “Who Says Tea Partiers Don’t Support Mitt Romney?!“, points out that the former Governor of Massachusetts has consistently had strong support of Tea Party members.
Lets do a quick poll review. Last September, a McClatchy poll showed favorable numbers for Romney among Tea Party supporters on a national level:
Voters who call themselves conservative preferred Romney to Palin. So did self-described supporters of the tea party movement; 25 percent preferred Romney and 19 percent Palin.”
A Marist poll (released November 2010) shows Romney edging out potential rivals with 19% of Tea Party support, compared to Huckabee’s 17% and Palin’s 16%, respectively.
Finally, a New Hampshire poll also indicates strong Tea Party support for Mitt Romney:
“In a new WMUR poll, [Romney's] favorability among supporters of the Tea Party is strikingly high – 77 percent and far exceeds any other [potential] candidate.
Romney’s fiscal message of reducing taxes and cutting spending resonates with Tea Party philosophy.
Among New Hampshire Tea Party supporters, Romney’s favorability numbers were far higher than even candidates who are viewed as closely aligned with the movement, such as Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich.”
The Washington Post explains that Mitt Romney is gaining support across the wide spectrum of conservatives:
“The Pew poll comes less than two weeks after a Washington Post/ABC News survey showed Romney running strong among the party’s conservatives; more than seven in 10 Republicans who described themselves as “very” conservative had a favorable opinion of Romney.
“In the Pew survey, Romney’s numbers are not only strong among tea party types but across the board. He took 20 percent among self-identified conservatives — tied with Huckabee for first — and 23 percent among moderate-to-liberal GOPers. The only group where Romney lagged even slightly was among white evangelical Protestants, where he received 15 percent to Huckabee’s 29 percemt
The Pew and Post results — coming so close to one another — seem to make clear that Romney, who has largely been cast as an establishment pick, has wider reach within the party than first imagined. It’s not entirely clear where Romney’s power among tea party activists originates, although his strong fiscal conservatism likely endears him to that bloc of voters.”
Romney is the ideal candidate for conservatives, moderates, independents, tea partiers and even those liberals concerned about the fiscal health of our nation. They know he has experience in lifting companies out of debt. More importantly, they know he pulled Massachusetts out of debt.
When Gov Romney took office in 2003, he faced a massive deficit of approximately $3 billion. However, he was able to balance the state budget for each year of his administration by implementing a mixture of aggressive reduction in the size and cost of government, along with bold strategies to spur economic growth.
By 2005, Romney created a budget surplus of $1 billion and by the time he left office in 2007, Massachusetts had a $2 billion surplus.
To shed greater light on Romney’s record, one would have to understand what happened to Massachusetts after he left. The picture isn’t very pretty; Governor Patrick Deval has squandered the Romney surplus. Massachusetts is now back in debt with a $1 billion state deficit and faces a potential 1.5 or 2 billion dollar deficit. What’s even more amazing is that Governor Deval has been receiving $7 billion in federal stimulus funds for the last two years. By the time this summer arrives, the $2 billion in debt Duval has racked up will have grown back to the same level of debt before Romney became Governor of MA.
The fact that Romney created a $2 billion surplus for Massachusetts which was tucked in between two episodes of major debt creation demonstrates that Romney was a unique leader in MA’s financial history. The comparison/contrast shows how capable and effective Romney is.
Romney’s amazing record of reining in government debt is just one indisputable reason why Tea Partiers support him.
RE: Romney is the ideal candidate for conservatives, moderates, independents, tea partiers and even those liberals concerned about the fiscal health of our nation. They know he has experience in lifting companies out of debt. More importantly, they know he pulled Massachusetts out of debt.
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I did not know that he pulled Massachusetts out of debt and left office with a $2 billion dollar surplus. But that doesn’t surprise me. He can get the Reagan Democrats and the Independents. Last minute swing voters will jump on board when they see the momentum he’s going to generate. He’s the right person for the right time. I think a lot of formerly left leaning Independents have decided that this admin just cannot get the job done.
RE: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/28/the_surprising_new_class_politics_109353.html
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Don’t worry. What is currently happening at a state level is not going to impact the national level. Why? Because of GE and the current make up of the president’s economic council.
Marilyn
You stated that you didn’t know that Romney left the state with a surplus. Many others on comment boards say that he left Mass. in a mess. Also the remarks say he was pro gay marriage, supported abortion, destroyed many companies while at Bain, and sent jobs over seas.
I find it amazing that posters really don’t know the TRUTH about him and his work.
Do they really understand was an amazing job he did with the 2002 Olympics?
This is a very exciting and unique man that is only trying to help his country and make things better for his, and our grandkids. He has no desire in the past to draw a pay check for many of his endeavors. He has no skeletons in his closet, has a great marriage and family, practices a great religion ( no matter how much the public makes fun of the LDS church), has an open book on his birth certificate, grades, and education.
I find it comical that the most they can find to pick on him is his taking a family pet on a family vacation (while taking in all laws of state on transporting animals, and took along their dog for their family enjoyment), instead of leaving it home. Also they keep bringing up his situation about his Gardner hiring illegals, at no fault of Romney.
I really hope when he announces his running, all the truth comes out, as Gov. Romney has nothing to hide or be ashamed of. As they say in the Olympics.
Let the games begin.
Vegas Mike, I’ve read Romney’s boook ‘No Apology’, so I know what he considers to be most important, at least important enough to write about and so be on the record, and I found, to my surprise, that I agreed with almost everything that he had to say. Throw in the fact that he’s a family man who has been married for 30 some odd years and has a solid foundation in a belief in a creator,even if he is Mormon and I’m evangelical Christian at my roots, he’s still Christian and he lives Christian values – what’s not to like? If that’s all they’ve got on the left, then they’re in trouble.
Yes, people say he’s a flip flopper, yes people say he’s changed his position on things so he cannot be trusted, but I would remind them that Ronald Reagan wasn’t perfect either, coming from liberal California. Reagan could have also been called a flip flopper, back in the day.
All these things that they say about Romney can be said about Obama. You have to be watchful and be informed, make up your own mind about what is true and what is not true. I’ve seen and heard Obama’s lies enough to know that I’m not voting for him again. Romney’s got the education, experience, church background, family values, love of country that I find more appealing than anything the Democrats have got. More importantly, the way Obama has gone back on his campaign promises is pretty blatant and he’s just daring his base to dessert him. I think the Democrats are going to be shocked when a lot of his base does just that.
http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2011/mar11/psrmar11.html Free Trade with Protectionists Cheats U.S.