Posted on 01/24/2011 10:11:50 AM PST by pissant
Fresh off dominating the New Hampshire straw poll over the weekend, Mitt Romney got another boost to his presidential aspirations in the form of a new national Rasmussen poll that shows the former Massachusetts Governor leading his potential competition for the GOP nomination.
In the poll, 24% of respondents went for Romney, while 19% supported Sarah Palin, and 17% said Mike Huckabee was their top choice. Newt Gingrich came in fourth at 11%, followed by Tim Pawlenty (6%), Ron Paul (4%), and Mitch Daniels (3%). An aditional 16% said they were either undecided or planned to vote for another candidate.
[TPM Slideshow: Meet The 2012 GOPers: Mitt Romney]
The results are a slight improvement for Romney since Rasmussen last polled the question in November. In that survey, Romney still led the field at 20%, though Huckabee and Palin each trailed him by just one point, at 19%.
Romney is hardly the consensus front runner. Though the more well-known Republicans --Romney, Palin, Huckabee, and Gingrich -- have consistently lead in primary polling, there's a lot of fluidity in where they stand within that top tier. Two polls last week placed Huckabee well ahead of the crowd, while Palin topped a PPP survey in late November.
(Excerpt) Read more at tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com ...
In the real world of primaries he holds no lead. (Unless he starts running as a dem, then the lead might be great.)
Take Huck out of the race and options—and the picture changes significantly.
Mitt doesn’t have to happen.
We IMO don’t need this Ken doll beltway hack as the Republican nominee.
I hope some better choices come forward to lead.
You might as well have McCain II with this kind of choice.
No thank you.
Romney’s got to beat Obama for the nomination first, before he can start thinking about taking on the GOP nominee.
Christopher Rants op-ed: Palin Iowa victory could kill caucuses
Former Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants has an op-ed in Sunday’s Sioux City Journal where he argues that the Republican caucus electorate’s emphasis on ideological purity could marginalize their impact going forward.
Or as the Republican from Sioux City puts it: If former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wins the 2012 Iowa caucuses, “I think that will be the end of the Iowa Caucuses as we know it.”
Rants argues what is an emerging theme in the quietly developing caucus campaign, that Republican presidential prospects more associated with their fiscal and economic profiles may be looking for a way to steer clear of the Iowa GOP caucus electorate, which Rants calls “a more conservative lot than you will find in most states.”
“We tend to push candidates for ideological purity. Unlike our coastal cousins, we have a stronger evangelical presence in the party,” Rants writes.
He adds in the post, which you can read here: “Now that’s all fine. But if you are Haley Barbour, a Mitch Daniels, a Mitt Romney, you have to ask yourself if there is a path to victory in a state like Iowa. There is no room to the right of Palin or Huckabee. And if they both run you can expect that it becomes a game of one upsmanship in terms of rhetoric.”
“Iowa has always been a ‘must play here’ state,” he adds. “But candidates may be re-evaluating that. Sure, longshots like Rick Santorum play because it’s cheaper than any other, and he gets lots of free publicity. But other candidates have to decide if there is a path to victory. If someone else goes the McCain route and bypasses us and wins the nomination, we are probably done.”
Rants’ comments are a warning. He notes that he wants to see the caucuses succeed, because of their tradition for insisting on hand-to-hand contact with activists.
While the Iowa GOP, who sent Mike Huckabee the caucus winner in 2008, will be watched for the impact on the nomination, it should also be noted that the past two presidents are caucus winners: Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.
That may have begun altering the perception of the Iowa caucuses from that of a first test of viability to the highest hurdle for the nomination.
I have always said that none of the original republicans that were already declared the “winner” in late 2008 were going to be the nominee,,,I still see a “Dark Horse” come spring 2011 !
Better yet, take Romney out of the race.
Go Mitt.
If only Romney was a natural borne American,
but he is JUST LIKE OBAMA.
If only Romney was a conservative,
but he is JUST LIKE OBAMA.
If you liked 2008, you’ll love Romney.
Hmm... this is looking to resemble a Clinton/Obama war with Romney playing Clinton and Palin playing Obama... should be amusing. At least this time around the media reports will be more pleasant to behold. (My friend was right: Republicans ARE better-looking than Democrats.)
At this point, though, the only thing that could convince me to vote for a candidate would be if he promised to 1. expel all illegal immigrants, or 2. end fractional-reserve banking and take radical measures to get the trade/debt problem under control.
As I’m not holding my breath for either one, I think I am going to be sitting out elections for the foreseeable future.
Open primaries don't have to happen either, but nobody gives enough d*** to close them. I'll be pleasantly surprised if he doesn't win the nomination. The media wants him and the middle doesn't know any better.
McCain happened, and that seemed more unlikely, 4 years ago, than Romney does now. :(
Not real excited about any of the names listed. Palin would be the logical choice. Hopefully we can get someone like Senator Demint to run. I am just praying we don’t get stuck with Mitt or Huck.
I will write in daffy duck before i ever even consider in the most remote corner of my mind voting for a leftist leaning borderline psychotic socialist like romney....not a chance in hell.....
Why can’t the GOP find anyone decent to run? It’s so frustrating.
I would like to associate myself with the gentleman's remarks...
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