NBC/WSJ poll: Romney struggles with primary voters, Gingrich with general electorate

MSNBC ^ | Dec 13, 2012 | By Mark Murray, Deputy Political Director, NBC News

[Jim Robinson]

WASHINGTON - Exactly three weeks until the first Republican presidential nominating contest in Iowa, front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have two different challenges, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

~~snip~~

Gingrich leads the GOP pack According to the poll, Gingrich, the former House speaker, is the first choice of 40 percent of GOP primary voters -- the highest percentage any Republican presidential candidate has received in the party horserace so far.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is the first choice of 23 percent of Republicans. He’s followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 9 percent, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 8 percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 6 percent, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 5 percent, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at 3 percent.

Reduced to a three-person GOP race, Gingrich gets 53 percent, Romney gets 31 percent and Paul gets 13 percent. And in a two-way Republican contest, Gingrich leads Romney by 23 points, 59 percent to 36 percent.

What’s helping Gingrich and hurting Romney? Look no further than ideology.

Fifty-seven percent of Republican primary voters view Gingrich as a conservative, 28 percent see him as a moderate and 10 percent believe he’s liberal.

By comparison, 53 percent of them view Romney as a moderate, 29 percent see him as a conservative and 11 percent believe he’s a liberal.

“Romney’s problem has always been ideology,” Hart says.

[Sun]

So, according to this poll, Bachmann is No. 4. Four years ago McCain was No. 4. Hmmmm.

However, McCain had a few more points, but on the other hand, there was also only six candidates at the time.

[BillyBoy]

>> If Newt has major “unfavorables,” why is he rising in the polls ? <<

The same reason Katherine Harris easily won the primary but got crushed in the general election. Primary voters are not the same as general election voters. Both Harris' and Gingrich supporters don't care how unpopular their candidate is with the average voter because their choose one has "guts" and blah blah blah...