• Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Gingrich 28% Vs. Cain 25% Vs. Romney 18% Vs. Perry 6%

    November 14, 2011 /

    According to the latest PPP Poll.

    Newt Gingrich has taken the lead in PPP’s national polling.  He’s at 28% to 25% for Herman Cain and 18% for Mitt Romney.  The rest of the Republican field is increasingly looking like a bunch of also rans: Rick Perry is at 6%, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 3%, and Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum each at 1%.

    Compared to a month ago Gingrich is up 13 points, while Cain has dropped by 5 points and Romney has gone down by 4.  Although a fair amount of skepticism remains about the recent allegations against Cain there is no doubt they are taking a toll on his image- his net favorability is down 25 points over the last month from +51 (66/15) to only +26 (57/31). What is perhaps a little more surprising is that Romney’s favorability is at a 6 month low in our polling too with only 48% of voters seeing him favorably to 39% with a negative opinion.

    Gingrich’s lead caps an amazing comeback he’s made over the last 5 months.  In June his favorability nationally with Republican voters plummeted all the way to 36/49. Now he’s at 68/23, representing a 58 point improvement in his spread since then. As recently as August Gingrich was mired in single digits at 7%, and even in September he was at just 10%.  He’s climbed 18 points in less than 2 months.

    There’s reason to think that if Cain continues to fade, Gingrich will continue to gain.  Among Cain’s supporters 73% have a favorable opinion of Gingrich to only 21% with a negative one. That compares to a 33/55 spread for Romney with Cain voters and a 32/53 one for Perry.  They like Gingrich a whole lot more than they do the other serious candidates in the race.

    Cain’s base of strength continues to be with Tea Party voters, where he gets 33% to 31% for Gingrich, and only 11% for Romney.  This is where you can really see that Gingrich will be the beneficiary if Cain continues to implode- Gingrich’s favorability with Tea Partiers is 81/14. Romney’s is 43/45. There’s a lot of room for Gingrich to build up support with that key group of Republican voters.

    So, despite Gingrich’s conservative flaws will Newt be able to curry favor with The Tea Party more than Romney?

    Probably and with Herman Cain all but out of the race, Gingrich is looking like the comeback kid.

    Guess those Gingrich staffers who quit him and went to work for Rick Perry are feeling fairly low about now.

    Stay tuned since the race remains very fluid.

  • Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  President 2012

    President 2012: Is Newt Gingrich the Next Conservative Anti-Romney Candidate?

    November 11, 2011 /

    Newt Gingrich

    Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, poses for a picture with ten-year-old Carmella Adair and her eight-year-old brother George at a kick-off party for the opening of the Newt2012 office in Manchester, N.H., Friday, Nov. 11, 2011

    So, is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich the newest anti-Romney conservative candidate?

    Perhaps, but Jennifer Rubin does the vetting of the former House Speaker.

    In short, Gingrich isn’t exactly the conservative dreamboat the right has been pining for. Just as his dexterity in debates has given him a lift, the penchant for gaffes places him in constant peril. He’s better informed than Perry and Cain and actually knows something about foreign affairs, but the idea that he is the solution to the ideologically erratic Romney is, well, absurd. That said, for those now embarrassed to vote for Cain or Perry, Gingrich may be a more acceptable choice, so long as he doesn’t once again blow himself up.

    But, unless there is a draft candidate movement, the ONLY real choice for GOP voters will be Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. The others like Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry just won’t cut it.

    At present, it is a hard choice, but I am leaning towards Gingrich.

    Stay tuned…..

  • Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Romney 21% Vs. Cain 21% Vs. Gingrich 12% Vs. Perry 11%

    November 7, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Herman Cain now ties Mitt Romney as the leader for the GOP presidential nomination in USA Today/Gallup polling on Republican preferences conducted Nov. 2-6. Each receives 21% support from Republicans nationwide. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry follow, with 12% and 11% support, respectively.

    Gallup’s previous measure of Republicans’ preferences, conducted Oct. 3-7, also showed Romney and Cain essentially tied, with Romney at 20% support and Cain at 18%. At that point, Perry was in second place with 15%, followed by Ron Paul at 8% and Gingrich at 7%.

    Well, this poll was taken before today’s latest revelation about another woman accusing Cain of inappropriate behavior.

    Note, the rise of Newt Gingrich in this poll. The former Speaker may very well become the alternative to Mitt Romney, but whether he can go toe to toe with Romney remains to be seen.

    Republicans’ latest preferences for their party’s nomination highlight Romney’s inability to build on his support in recent months. Romney’s 21% preference score is now no better in the trial heat poll than it was in May, despite the rise and then fall in Republican support for Perry and Michelle Bachmann, the collapse in support for Gingrich earlier this year, and the latest controversy surrounding Cain.

    Meanwhile, Gingrich has seen a modest renaissance of sorts in his positioning. He received as high as 12% support earlier in the year, but fell to as low as 4% of Republicans’ preferences, in Gallup’s August update. Now, he’s back to 12%, and essentially ties Perry for second place behind the two front-runners. Gallup’s Positive Intensity Scores, updated each Tuesday, also show that Gingrich’s image has been improving.

  • Day By Day,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich

    Day By Day October 30, 2011 – Outside of the Box

    October 30, 2011 /

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, many conservatives are happy with the prospect that Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee to face off against President Obama. Romney is NOT a conservative and has some real policy baggage e.g. flip-flops, RomneyCare.

    What is the Republican Party to do?

    They better get busy and draft someone else (like Rep. Paul Ryan, Mike Huckabee, Mitch Daniels) or go with the only other qualified conservative candidate for President, Newt Gingrich.

    Sorry, but Herman Cain, who has never held political office before, does not have the policy chops, or the experience in government to be the Republican nominee.

  • Herman Cain,  Michele Bachmann,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Perry,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Romney 30% Palin 14% Cain 12% Perry 8%

    June 15, 2011 /

    According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

    • Mitt Romney  …………………..  30
    • Sarah Palin  ……………………  14
    • Herman Cain …………………..  12
    • Rick Perry ………………………  8
    • Ron Paul ………………………..  7
    • Newt Gingrich …………………  6
    • Tim Pawlenty  …………………  4
    • Rick Santorum ………………..  4
    • Michele Bachmann ………….  3
    • Jon Huntsman …………………  1
    •   Other (VOL)  …………………  1
    •   None (VOL)  ………………….  2
    •   Not sure ………………………… 8

    As, I said earlier today, Mitt Romney is starting to consoldiate his position as a front-runner in the GOP field. If conservatives have an alternative, they had better declare now or the current field will battle it out and Romney looks like a winner.

  • Chris Christie,  Newt Gingrich,  President 2012,  Rick Perry,  Rudy Giuliani

    President 2012: South Carolina Pols To Draft Chris Christie?

    June 9, 2011 /

    Some South Carolina POLS will try to persuade the New Jersey Governor.

    Multiple South Carolina state representatives plan on holding a news conference next week to urge New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the presidential race.

    Republican state Rep. Kris Crawford told POLITICO the goal was to entice a candidate capable of going “toe to toe with the Obama political machine,” and at least a few state lawmakers think Christie fits the bill.

    Crawford and state Rep. Phyllis Henderson — who previously told Roll Call she hoped to spark a Christie draft — have scheduled a “Draft Chris Christie for President” event from the statehouse steps at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Crawford said he and Henderson are taking point for the event, but hope that between half a dozen and a dozen legislators show up.

    “Having had conversations on the floor for the last two months, I know that there’s interest out there,” Crawford said. “Here’s a guy who’s willing to have the hard conversation, speak the truth and take on what is, frankly, going to be a really tough political operation on the Democratic side.”

    Yesterday it was Rudy Giuliani, today it is Texas Governor Rick Perry, next week it is Chris Christie.

    The GOP Presidential field is growing and getting a little crowded, although the race probably lost one today in Newt Gingrich.