Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Posted on 05/12/2007 8:32:17 AM PDT by Politicalmom
STATEWIDE (WIS) - In just days, 10 Republicans wanting to be the next president will be in Columbia. They'll be taking part in the South Carolina Republican presidential debate on Tuesday, May 15th at the Koger Center.
So what do South Carolina voters want to hear from the candidates? WIS partnered with Communities for Quality Education, an education advocacy group, for an exclusive poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina.
Respondents were asked, do you think that things in the nation are going in the right direction or on the wrong track?
Thirty-four percent said they thought the nation was on the wrong track, while 54 percent said we are headed in the right direction.
Next, which of these issues will be the most important to you in deciding which candidate to support? Not surprisingly, the war in Iraq was the number one issue for 32 percent of those polled.
Illegal immigration was next, and five issues were bunched together, including the economy and education.
The war in Iraq was also tops for Democratic voters, but education ranked much higher among their concerns.
Then voters were asked, leaving aside the war in Iraq, which will be most important to you in deciding which candidate to support. Here, immigration finished well ahead, followed by energy and dependence on foreign oil.
Finally, on the issue of what actions the federal government could take that would most improve our children's future, 59 percent said, improving the quality of education. Thirty-five percent said reducing crime.
We also investigated what likely Republican primary voters in the state think about the candidates currently. If the presidential primary were held now, they were asked who would they vote for.
John McCain led the field, with 25 percent, followed closely by Rudy Giuliani at 20 percent. Then, a surprise, Fred Thompson, who is not even in the race, finished with 16 percent. And another surprise, Newt Gingrich, also not in yet, was fourth with 12 percent. And Mitt Romney came in with eight percent. No other candidate finished with more than two percent.
In a head-to-head matchup, McCain led Giuliani by a point, well within the margin of error. McCain had a larger lead over Fred Thompson, 52 percent to 38 percent.
When it came to how voters looked at the candidates, Giuliani had the highest favorable rating, with 74 percent, followed by McCain at 66 percent and Gingrich at 63 percent.
McCain, Giuliani and Gingrich also had extremely high name recognition. All the respondents had heard of McCain, only two percent had not heard of Giuliani and three percent had not heard of Gingrich. On the other hand, 30 percent of voters had never heard of Fred Thompson, which suggests he might have the most room to grow.
The firm Ayres McHenry and Associates conducted the poll from May fifth through the eighth. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38 percent.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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BUMP!
Who are Fred fans going to support if Fred does not run???
“Who are Fred fans going to support if Fred does not run???”
Hunter most likely.
There's the problem. People will vote on name recognition and never find out what they're really voting for.
As for immigration being the top issue after the war, well the obvious is a little hard to ignore, with the exception of paid off politicos.
We are fairly far out from the SC primary, and the issues seem almost universal for this election
1. The Iraq War
2. Illegal immigration
3. everything else.
Romney is also going to have problems in SC. If Fred ran he would take SC.
I hope Fred gets in; he’s my first choice. But he’d better decide quickly.
Not surprised:)
I was frantic to have Fred announce ASAP...I’m beginning to think he’s wise doing it this way...sometime within the next 4-6 weeks seems reasonable and practical.
South Carolina Ping
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If Fred threw his hat into the ring tonight, it would probably be too late for him to get into the May 15th debate; huh?
Guiliani has been working the state for months and McCain for years. Yet, between them, they can only wrap up 45% of the GOP primary voters. Expect both of their numbers to drop once Joe six-pack starts paying attention and finds out what where they stand on the issues.
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