Barack Obama,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Perry

President 2012 Poll Watch: More Voters Like Mitt Romney Than President Obama or Rick Perry

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

More registered voters say they would definitely vote for Mitt Romney or might consider doing so (62%) than say the same about his two main rivals in the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama (54%) and Republican Rick Perry (53%).

Though Romney currently receives the highest level of consideration among voters, more say they would “definitely vote for” Obama (33%) than say this about either Romney (21%) or Perry (20%). That may reflect the virtual certainty that Obama will be the Democratic candidate for president, while Republicans’ loyalties are divided between their two leading contenders.

That dynamic is apparent in the higher percentage of Democratic registered voters who say they definitely would vote for Obama (70%) than of Republican registered voters who would definitely vote for either of the main Republican contenders (41% for Perry and 44% for Romney). Once the Republican nominee is decided, the percentage of Republicans who say they would definitely vote for that candidate should increase significantly.

But, it all means nothing for Mitt Romney, unless he can win in the early Republican primary elections/caucuses. But, Mitt will certainly use this poll in tonight’s debate to show his elecability in contrast to Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Romney’s advantage in broader voter consideration over Perry and Obama results partly from his greater appeal to independent voters — 70% say they would definitely vote for him or consider doing so, compared with 60% for Perry and 45% for Obama. Romney also receives greater consideration from Republican and Democratic voters than does Perry, and matches the 90% party loyalty Obama gets from his party’s supporters.The greater consideration Romney gets among registered voters speaks to his potential in the 2012 election, something that has not necessarily been translated to performance yet. Romney is essentially tied with Obama in the latest head-to-head matchup for the general election, and currently trails Perry in Republicans’ current preferences for the party’s presidential nominee. However, the same poll finds Republicans saying they are more willing to trade agreement on the issues for electability when choosing their party’s presidential nominee, something that could work to Romney’s advantage given that he currently fares slightly better than Perry in a head-to-head matchup versus Obama.