Mike Huckabee,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

President 2012 New Hampshire Poll Watch: Obama 47% Vs. Romney 46%

April 6, 2011 /

According to the latest PPP Poll.

Job Approval Vs. Disapproval:

President Obama: 46% Vs. 46%

Favorable Vs. Unfavorable:

  • Mitt Romney – 45% Vs. 44%
  • Mike Huckabee – 29% Vs. 52%
  • Newt Gingrich – 24% Vs. 62%
  • Donald Trump – 27% Vs. 60%
  • Sarah Palin – 28% Vs. 67%

Head to Head:

  • Obama – 47% Vs. Romney – 46%
  • Obama – 52% Vs. Huckabee – 38%
  • Obama – 52% Vs. Gingrich 39%
  • Obama – 51% Vs. Trump – 37%
  • Obama – 56% vs. Palin – 34%

Certainly, one can read into the polling results, that it is not so much that New Hampshire voters love Obama is that they hate the other GOP candidates, besides Mitt Romney. But, I doubt that Huckabee and/or Palin are running anyway.

New Hampshire is a key battleground state and is a must win for the GOP nominee, if the want to beat the incumbent President. But, is Romney the choice because there are other states that the GOP nominee needs to win e.g. Virginia, North Carolina and Florida? In those states Romney is not so much.

If there is an undeclared candidate like Mitch Daniels and/or Chris Christie, New Hampshire might be ripe for the picking – at least a second place finish to Romney in the primary and then on to win in the other states.

The New Hampshire numbers are quite reminiscent of a poll we did in Nevada earlier this year that found a Romney nomination would result in a toss up situation in the state but that the GOP nominating anyone else would hand Obama an easy victory. The Republican nominee will have to win these kinds of states to be successful in 2012 but whether the party base will be open to sacrificing some ideological purity to put forward a candidate who can win in the New Hampshires and Nevadas of the world remains to be seen.

The entire poll is here.