Romney, Bachmann, Cain Lead The Pack Among GOP Primary Voters

Rasmussen Reports ^ | June 16, 2011 | Rasmussen Reports

[ejdrapes]

Romney, Bachmann, Cain Lead The Pack Among GOP Primary Voters
Thursday, June 16, 2011

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the vote.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich picks up nine percent (9%) support, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul with seven percent (7%), ex-Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty at six percent (6%) and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum also earning six percent (6%). Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who did not participate in the debate but is expected to announce his candidacy on Tuesday, gets two percent (2%) of the vote. Eight percent (8%) prefer some other candidate. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Romney and Bachmann are tied among primary voters who say they are Tea Party members, with 26% support each. Romney holds a 36% to 16% lead over the congresswoman among non-members. Most primary voters regard all the candidates with the exception of Huntsman as conservative, but Bachmann is seen as the most conservative.

In late April, billionaire developer Donald Trump led the pack with 19% support, followed by Romney at 17% and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee with 15%. Trump and Huckabee have since announced that they are not running. Bachmann was the leader among the second-tier candidates at that time.

The survey of 1,000 Likely GOP Primary Voters was conducted on June 14, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. Likely GOP Primary Voters include both Republicans and unaffiliated voters likely to vote in a GOP Primary. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

For the third week in a row, a generic Republican candidate leads President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. But while 54% of Likely Voters nationwide think Obama is qualified to be president, Romney is the only 2012 Republican hopeful that a sizable number of voters feel that way about.

There is little difference of opinion among male and female GOP primary voters, although women give Romney slightly more support. The gap between Romney and Bachmann is narrowest among middle-aged primary voters.

Romney, Bachmann and Cain earn 31%, 22% and 12% support respectively among primary voters who describe themselves as conservatives. Romney runs strongest among party moderates.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of primary voters describe Bachmann as at least somewhat conservative. That includes 55% who say she is Very Conservative.

By contrast, 61% rate Romney as at least somewhat conservative, but that includes just 11% who say he is Very Conservative. Fifty-seven percent (57%) think Cain is at least somewhat conservative, with 32% who view him as Very Conservative.

Gingrich is seen as at least somewhat conservative by 68% of likely primary voters, with 35% who feel he is Very Conservative. Similarly, 63% say Paul is at least somewhat conservative, including 39% who think he is Very Conservative. Pawlenty is seen as at least somewhat conservative by 59%, but only 19% say he’s Very Conservative.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) think Santorum is at least somewhat conservative, including 30% who view him as Very Conservative. Just 31%, however, say Huntsman is at least somewhat conservative, with seven percent (7%) who rate him Very Conservative. Another 20% characterize him as a moderate, but a sizable 40% don’t know enough about him to venture any kind of opinion of his political views.

Huntsman is the least known of the declared or soon-to-be declared candidates.

[ejdrapes]

How the hell does Romney get 31% of primary voters who call themselves conservative?!?

[bwc2221]

We have a long way to go. Gallup GOP Poll Results from August 2007:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/28447/New-Gallup-Poll-Romney-Posts-Modest-Gains.aspx

1. Giuliani 32%
2. Thompson 19%
3. Romney 14%
4. McCain 11%
5. Huckabee 4%

[Bigtigermike]

The day is coming when the candidates have to go after Romney to REMIND voters who Romney is....the other day may have been too early but the time is coming when it must happen or He will get that “plurality” of the votes to win the nomination

[Rational Thought]

Early polls, such as this one, should not be taken seriously.

[Diogenesis]

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Romney and Bachmann are tied among primary voters who say they are Tea Party members, with 26% support each”

This is a bare-faced lie! I don’t know a single Tea Partier who is for Romney. Rasmussen can go pound sand.

[Daisyjane69]

Exactly what I thought when I read that.

Maybe he is getting credit for not setting himself on fire onstage.

meh

I have no idea who these Romney people are, honest to God. Must poll a lot of blue states, who are of no use to us.

[ScottinVA]

How the hell does Romney get 31% of primary voters who call themselves conservative?!?

It appears the conservative support is thinly spread right now. Once the process weeds out some candidates, it'll consolidate.

[Diogenesis]

[ScottinVA]

We have a long way to go. Gallup GOP Poll Results from August 2007:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/28447/New-Gallup-Poll-Romney-Posts-Modest-Gains.aspx

1. Giuliani 32%
2. Thompson 19%
3. Romney 14%
4. McCain 11%
5. Huckabee 4%

---

Exactly. It’s all scattershot right now.

[ejdrapes]

I don’t take any polls that seriously right now, BUT Romney is leading all of them. I just don’t get it.

[Grunthor]

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the vote.

---

This is Rasmussen. As much as I support Herman Cain, I must take this as truth, wether I like it or not. I hope that after Ames, if Herman and the rest are still far, far behind the two front runners that some will bow out and let Bachmann overtake Romney.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"How the hell does Romney get 31% of primary voters who call themselves conservative?!?"

It happens when the other candidates don't point out the individul mandate in Romneycare is the same thing we hate about Obamacare. It happens when one candidate in the debate is asked directly about it (Pawlenty) and refuses to talk about it.

[ejdrapes]

Sorry no one but the hard core Palin KADs are buying the Bachmann is a Romney stooge argument.

[rhombus]

Once the process weeds out some candidates, it'll consolidate.

Yup, that's it in a nutshell. It will be Romney versus non-Romney... much like it was with McCain. Last time, if you recall, FR supported anybody but McCain until finally in the end they even turned to Romney to defeat McCain but by that time it was too late. Can't wait for the similar show this time.

[Diogenesis]

No. Romney leads ONLY in the polls he buys,
OR where the sample (if it exists at all) are morons.

Romney is a dog abuser. Is that what YOU want?

"But the details of the event are more than unseemly - they may, in fact, be illegal. Massachusetts's animal cruelty laws specifically prohibit anyone from carrying an animal "in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon. "An officer for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals responded to a description of the situation saying "it's definitely something I'd want to check out." The officer, Nadia Branca, declined to give a definitive opinion on whether Romney broke the law but did note that it's against state law to have a dog in an open bed of a pick-up truck, and "if the dog was being carried in a way that endangers it, that would be illegal." "Dog on Roof? What Was It Like for Romney's Pooch? - Scientists Say Dog Likely Experienced Wind-Whipped, Uncomfortable Trip - "Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. e'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog,".. Jordan Kaplan, the owner of Petaholics, a dog walking service in New York City, and a lifelong dog owner and dog lover, said Romney's actions were uncalled for" "Romney's dog - This is a distinction Mitt Romney probably could do without, but he is surely the first presidential candidate to be attacked for putting a dog with diarrhea in a carrier and tying it to the top of a station wagon. Romney's defense: Seamus liked it. [like the citizens under Romney's RomneyCARE, etc.?] " "As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours. As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway." "Story about dog on car roof comes back to bite Romney - 200 comments from readers complaining of animal cruelty" Romney's bad behavior Exposed by Seamus "Romney Loses Nomination Over Dog Abuse? - Romney was traveling that summer with his wife, five sons, and Seamus to his parent's cottage on Lake Huron. But hours into the ride, Seamus apparently suffered diarrhea, which ran down the back window of the car. .David Kravitz wrote on BlueMassGroup, a liberal blog. "It also strikes me as classic Romney: it solves a problem efficiently, in a business-like manner, and with no regard whatsoever for the suffering that the solution may cause."

[ejdrapes]

All of this is well known. Why do primary voters need the other candidates to point this out? I’m assuming these are educated voters, probably many of whom listen to talk radio, watch Fox News, etc. Romney’s been around long enough people should know he’s a fraud.

[stephenjohnbanker]

You nailed him! Do you know any Romneyites among the tea party crowd? One Mormon friend of mine said he likes Romney as a person, but wouldn’t vote for him because he is clueless ;-)

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Don’t worry, this is all about Name Recognition at this point. Which is why Giuliani polled so strongly in ‘07. Once the underlings start dropping out and the debates start to dominate the attention of the electorate, the true candidates will emerge.

Any candidate with as much baggage as Romney has are doomed. That’s why McCain came from the bottom and even beat him.