Obama Rebounds, Leads all GOP Contenders

Public Policy Polling ^ | May 12, 2010 | Tom Jensen

[yongin]

A month after trailing all but Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, President Barack Obama is now ahead of all four major Republican presidential candidates polled, plus a new dark horse. Obama has increased his lead over Palin from 47-45 to 50-43 since April; she is the only candidate against whom Obama has majority support. Even unknown candidate Gary Johnson, former New Mexico governor, has Obama at 46, to Johnson’s 28. Obama leads Mike Huckabee 46-45 after trailing him 47-45 last month. The president beats Gingrich 49-42; they were tied at 45 in April. Romney lags behind Obama 46-44 after beating him 45-44 a month ago.

[calex59]

To put it bluntly, horse sh**!

[Shane]

“They deserve what’s coming their way” They may deserve it, but we don’t. And if it is coming their way, it is also coming our way. We have to stop the Marxist march now, not try at some future point in time.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Kinda meaningless IMHO, but a bit bothersome.

Any presidential poll taken right now is pretty much meaningless. What'll decide the 2012 election is the economy throughout 2011 and 2012, along with the willingness of small-government conservatives to mount an effective campaign against taxation, government spending, government expansion, and Obama's extreme positions in favor of these things.

So far I don't see the RNC doing much. I also don't see any prominent Republican politicians keeping these issues front and center in the minds of voters. My respect goes to those Tea Party members who are making their own principled stand against big government, with no real help from the GOP.

[angelcindy]

can’t believe this

[chris_bdba]

Let’s flip this and look at how bad he is doing after only 1 year in office!

[PreciousLiberty]

This poll is a pile of crap.

Regardless, I’m sure 0’s popularity will continue to dive until election day ‘12.

Palin ‘12!

[SMCC1]

Eh...not a lot of GOP choices there. I hope none of them are the eventual nominee. I love Palin, but think she’d have a hard time winning in a general with the bashing she gets. I hope I’m wrong though. And I think Pawlenty is definitely running...ugh.

Anyway, hope there’s more/better choices than that such as Ryan, Thune, Daniels, Hoeven...

[Chances Are]

I can just imagine some of the questions leading up to the respondents' answers:

"Assuming President Obama was directly responsible for you winning the current Powerball lottery, how would you rate the following scenarios for the 2012 presidential election?"

CA....

[moose2004]

Obama: 39%

Someone Else: 50%

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2508758/posts

[italianquaker]

yep

[MNJohnnie]

The incumbent President barely beating a challenger should be ringing alarm bells all around the Democrat Party, not be spun as a sign of his “strength”

[Tarpon]

Kind of makes the poll a joke doesn’t it.

The lame stream is not in the truth telling business.

[toddausauras]

Yeah we should just give up on her NOT!

[rob777]

"All that shows is that the GOP does not YET have a viable candidate."


We should have a better idea of the potential candidates after the 2010 elections.

[BillyBoy]

>>> The GOP establishment always looks to poor or unqualified candidates that don’t motivate the base. Thune isn’t right. <<

There's clearly a movement underway from the Inside-the-beltway crowd to puff up Thune and sell him to the GOP base as an alternative to non-establishment friendly conservatives they can't control. Thune's been mediocre since all the hoopla died down from his victory over Daschle. He votes the "right way" 90% of the time when something reaches the Senate floor, but he's hardly a principled conservative warrior in public life. He's an establishment hack and would never get my support in the primary, especially after betraying conservatives on some high-profile fights. Sadly, many freepers don't realize this, the pro-Thune puff pieces seem to be working. Do really want this in the White House?

Bob Bennett’s TARP vote defended by John Thune

GOP says bipartisanship still possible (Thune) (BARF)

Romney To Fundraise For Thune

As for the polls, they're pretty much meaningless at this point. All the Republicans mentioned besides Gingrinch and Palin were in a statical dead heat with Obama. If I was a sitting President, I wouldn't get too cozy knowing I'm polling dead even with an unannounced challenger.

I like Palin, but we do need to consider other dark horse choices as well. Back in 2000, no one would ever guessed Barack Obama would succeed Bush as President, he was best known as a state Senator who just got his butt kicked in a Congressional primary against black panther Bobby Rush. Or for that matter, no one would have guessed in 1992 that the guy who would succeed Clinton would be the son of the guy he just trounced. For all we know, the next GOP president could be someone currently seen as a has-been like Marilyn Musgrave.

I would have picked Gary Johnson as my favorite of the "dark horse" choices, I really liked his governing style when he was in office and he was one of the very few statewide GOP officials to buck the trend and endorse Steve Forbes over Bush in 2000. But then someone mentioned on this forum that Johnson is pro-choice on abortion, pro-open borders, and a Paulite. In that case, I'm scratching him off the list.

But let's keep our options open. If Palin doesn't emerge as the best contender, we really shouldn't go with another Washington-establishment annointed "conservative"

[fieldmarshaldj]

Gary Johnson is a straight-out Libertarian. He did nothing to help the NM GOP. His position on drugs alone is offensive.

[Impy]

I agree, we can’t put all our eggs in one basket.