Posted on 03/16/2012 11:28:59 AM PDT by Josh Painter
Some conservative Republicans have called for Gingrich to drop out of the race on the assumption that conservative primary voters would then unite behind Santorum as the conservative alternative to the more moderate Romney. But Gallup data indicate that Gingrich voters would not be likely to coalesce behind Santorum, suggesting that factors other than candidate ideology may be attracting voters to Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney.
Gallup can simulate Republican preferences without Gingrich in the race by removing Gingrich votes and reassigning them to his voters' second-choice candidate. The results of this procedure suggest that national GOP preferences would change little if Gingrich dropped out. The reconfigured preferences show Romney getting 40% of the vote and Santorum getting 33%. That seven-percentage-point Romney lead is essentially the same as the six-point (34% to 28%) Romney lead in March 8-15 interviewing with Gingrich support included.
(Excerpt) Read more at gallup.com ...
Statewide voting patterns and exit polls tell a different story. Somehwere around 57% of Gingrich’s votes would go to Santorum should he drop out. In Arkansas, Santorum had a blow-out win with 51% of the vote because Gingrich gave up on the Arkansas race.
Sounds like half of Newt’s voters have a screw loose.
I’d wager real money that an analysis of Santorum supporters’ 2nd choices would indicate a similar breakdown roughly divided equally between Romney & Gingrich, with a few for Ron Paul.
I think it shows how much influence the MSM still has.
Screw loose, nice and direct and to the point.
Anyone who takes Mitt as their second choice is insane.
better?
I agree. Romney as second choice doesn’t compute.
This is why Gingrich must stay in to the bitter end, even if “allhope is lost.” Neither he nor Santorum will beat Romney, so they both may as well stay in, in order to have a chance of draining enough votes away from the liberal to force a convention confrontation. It’s only hope of preventing another Frick vs Frack election.
I would vote for the Prohibition Party in November before I’d vote for Romney
Go ahead and flame away, but if Newt announced Sarah as his running mate (long shot that she will accept though) we would end up with a dream team with debating skills beyond imagination. Not to mention a true Conservative ticket. Also, consider the fact that Sarah would be at the top of the list for future President of the United States.
I firmly believe the Supreme Court will not overturn this nightmare, and Congress will not defund it, so maybe the Republic is over already.
I don’t believe this. I feel that most Gingrich supporters want a brokered convention, thus they will likely back Santorum in later races to achieve this end.
How about as their first choice?
Any coalesce-ees could go either way. I’m not fond of Newt. The only thing many conservatives agree on is that we do NOT want Romney or Obama.
Naw, that was then, this is now. Wouldn’t most people have voted for Romney over McCain before Sarah was a running mate? I think so. The statement was made February 1, 2008—heck, it was made before Obama was a candidate (June of 2008), before the crash of 2008 and a whole host of historical game changers.
I find that hard to believe.
We see every day here in the forum that a lot of Gingrich supporters HATE Santorum, and attack him at every opportunity. But that’s presumably because they think he is taking conservative votes away from their guy.
But would they actually be dumb enough to vote for Mitt? I don’t think so. I think that half the Newt voters are just saying this, in hopes that Rick will drop out and clear the way for Newt.
And he picked Romney as the most conservative?
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