Republican Mitt Romney would steamroll into the governor's race a certified front-runner, far more popular than the wounded acting governor and besting every Democrat in the field, a new Herald poll shows.
In a staggering sign the GOP could abandon acting Gov. Jane M. Swift for Romney, 48 percent of Republicans surveyed now disapprove of the job Swift is doing as governor.
Meanwhile, 69 percent of Republican voters view Romney favorably while only 36 percent give Swift favorable marks.
And while Swift's plummeting fortune now has her losing to all but the weakest Democrats, the poll shows Romney - hailed as the savior of the scandal-ridden Salt Lake City Olympics - easily beating all five Democratic contenders, trouncing three of them by double-digit margins.
``Mitt Romney would be in an extraordinarily strong position to come into the state and trump Swift for the nomination of the Republican Party,'' said Herald pollster R. Kelly Myers. ``Jane Swift is now in a very vulnerable political position.''
The poll, of 406 registered Massachusetts voters, was taken Saturday through yesterday. It has a 4.9 percent margin of error.
For Romney, now strongly considering a run against Swift as he mops up after the Utah games, the poll shows a clear path to victory that his advisers have said could push him into the race. Already some key Republicans are defecting from Swift as they try to woo Romney.
Among all voters, an enviable 57 percent favorable rating for Romney towers over Swift's meager 27 percent, the poll shows.
Just 8 percent of voters view Romney unfavorably, while Swift's negative rating soared to 53 percent in the latest poll - the highest since the scandals that plagued her early days as lieutenant governor.
His strong favorable ratings show voters still like the affable Belmont millionaire who lost to U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 1994, and prefer him to even popular Democrats like former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, state Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien and Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham.
``He is getting just a huge boost coming out of Salt Lake that he could translate into a fairly strong position if he wanted to enter the race for governor of Massachusetts,'' Myers said.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card also bested Swift, earning 34 percent favorable ratings in the poll and beating three of the five Democrats in the race.
In matchups against Democrats, Republicans now appear poised to either win with Romney or lose with Swift.
O'Brien and Reich lead the pack, clearly leaving Birmingham behind when matched against either Republican.
The state treasurer beats Swift by 19 points, 49 percent to 30 percent, while Reich falls slightly behind at 48 percent to 30 percent. Birmingham has fallen into his own second tier among the Democrats, beating Swift by only 9 points even after a flood of costly television ads in recent weeks.
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Steve Grossman, who also pumped thousands into television ads, dropped into a statistical dead heat with Swift alongside former state Sen. Warren E. Tolman.
But the Democrats' hope of reclaiming the Corner Office reverses against Romney, the poll shows.
Romney beats O'Brien by 6 points, 38 percent to 32 percent and Reich by 9 points, 40 percent to 31 percent. Romney trounces the rest of the Democrats - Birmingham by 18 points, Grossman and Tolman by 25 points.
The numbers show Card, the Holbrook native, made the right decision to so far bow out of the race for governor, Myers said.
``He is somewhat more popular (than Swift) but he loses to Reich, loses to O'Brien and ties with Birmingham,'' Myers said. ``A Republican strategist looking at these numbers would not recommend bringing Andy Card to replace Swift on the ticket.''
Still, the polling data show Romney's popularity might be fleeting. The popularity drawn by commanding the closely watched Olympics, where he strolled with President Bush through the opening ceremonies, won't last, Myers said.
``If he did want to get into the race, he'd be better off doing it sooner than later to capitalize on these numbers while people are still thinking about the Olympics,'' Myers said. ``I don't know how quickly his favorable numbers will decline over time, but certainly they won't get any higher than today if he doesn't do something.''
For Swift, the latest poll shows she's hurting badly even with Romney out of the race.
Swift's popularity and job approval ratings, which soared after Sept. 11, have now steadily dropped to just above her December 2000 political lowpoint.
``She is only slightly better than she was at her worst, following the scandals that date back two years ago,'' Myers said. ``The continued downturn of the economy and the difficulties getting a budget passed have created some continued political problems for her.''