Gallup Poll: Gingrich Soars Among Republican Voters: 37% to Romney’s 22%
Make no mistake about it: there is now a new front runner for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination and his name is Newt Gingrich. The former House Speaker is zooming in the polls while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the former presumptive Republican nominee, remains stuck in the 20s. Just look at the latest Gallup Poll:
Newt Gingrich leads Mitt Romney 37% to 22% in Gallup’s inaugural Daily tracking of Republican registered voters’ preferences for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, with all other candidates in the single digits.
And it’s clear when you read the Gallup report on the poll what has happened: Gingrich has gained the bulk of former Cain supporters and has started the process of consolidating the Anti-Romney vote behind a single person — him. This means two things a)Romney will have to begin to step up his battle against Gingrich and try to differentiate himself from him and, b) the other candidates who aspire to be the prime option against Romney will need to try to cut Gingrich down to size.
Gallup Daily tracking of the race for the GOP nomination began Dec. 1, and will be reported each day at 1 p.m. Eastern on the basis of a five-day rolling average of at least 1,000 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. The current results are based on 1,277 Republican registered voters nationwide interviewed Dec. 1-5.
This initial Daily report confirms that the Republican race has shifted once again, with former Speaker of the House Gingrich this time rising to the top of the GOP list. This is the latest in a series of front-runner changes that have marked the Republican nomination battle as one of the more volatile in the recent history of presidential politics. At various points since the field largely took its current shape in August when Rick Perry entered the race, Gallup polls have shown Perry, Cain, Romney, and now Gingrich as the leader or tied for the lead for the Republican nomination. Earlier this year and late last year, Gallup polls showed Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, and Sarah Palin — all of whom eventually declined to run — leading or tied for the lead.
When Gallup last measured Republican registered voters’ preferences Nov. 13-17, 22% supported Gingrich, 21% supported Romney, and 16% backed Cain.
Cain was included in the first three days of interviewing, Dec. 1-3, but his name was removed on Dec. 4 after he announced the suspension of his campaign. Cain’s supporters from the first three days of interviewing have been re-allocated to their second-choice candidate. Cain was getting about 7% support prior to being removed from the survey.
Look for those inside of the GOP and outside the GOP who wish to see Gingrich’s rise halted step up attacks and for there to be increased media scrutiny of his already-heavily-vetted past life and any new assertions he makes. Front runners are always targets for competitors within their own parties and their status means they are automatically of interest to the news media, which wants to see if there is anything hidden behind the public image.
If Gingrich’s trend continues, the new narrative will be the inevitabilty of his nomination.
Photo via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
12 Responses to “Gallup Poll: Gingrich Soars Among Republican Voters: 37% to Romney’s 22%”
I don’t know of anyone around here, from any political party, that likes Newt. Where are these people?
Professor: my mom is a newt supporter. Actually, she is an anyone but Obama/Romney supporter. Was for Cain, Bachman, ….
But then again, my mom is disgustingly selfish and always wanting to distinguish herself as “better” than the “freeloaders” — despite the fact that she has never held a job and we were once forced to live off government assistance checks.
The GoP spin machine is amazing.
It can actually make someone vote against their own well being. It would be remarkable if it weren’t so devastating.
The Republican establishment is terrified. They know Newt will eventually implode but they are afraid it may be after he gets the nomination. There were a couple conservative OP EDs today slamming Newt and Rove gave it to him with both barrels on FOX.
Newt like Cain and Palin is a snake oil salesman and the Republican base does love their snake oil.
@hyperflow
Your mom matches what I’ve found. I have yet to meet a real-life Gringrich supporter, or even online. There are a lot of anything-but-Obama people out there, but that’s not a good base for winning polls — or elections.
Most of what people don’t like about Romney applies quite well to Newt, but not vice versa.
Boy, when that crash comes it is really, really gonna hurt. What kind of fantasy world do these Newt supporters inhabit? Lordy…
It is painfully obvious that 22% of Rep voters are cluelessly bouncing from candidate to candidate. Lets us have faith in the 14% that are still waiting for a miracle.
I knew something was up when practically every conservative comment was in favor of Newt on Jack Cafferty’s blog pitting Newt against Romney.
It was shocking actually. Because we all know that the Republican base could care less about ethics when it comes to their candidates.
That is why Fox is repeating over and over again that; “This is the most important election in American history”. Because if it is THAT important for a Republican win, ethics is a minor consideration for a Republican voter.
I cannot believe the conservative stupidity that permeates this country. I think it all started at Texas A&M around 1962.
Actually Prof I know quite a lot of people who like Gingrich. He’s remained pretty popular here in GA (and apparently among the GOP base throughout most states if the polls are accurate.)
My take on those who support him is that they’re people who don’t follow politics all that closely and they had a favorable impression of his ‘Contract With America’ days which wasn’t affected by his fall from the speakership because again, these are people who don’t really follow politics closely and tend to brush aside negatives of politicians they like as the standard mudslinging of the opposition.
I also find that Gingrich has the temperament that is favored by much of the GOP base…sort of dogmatic but intelligent enough that he presents his ideas in ways that seem to go deeper than soundbites….and very confident and willing to not mince words. This gives the impression of ‘solid conservative’ which I think is why Newt’s flip-flops haven’t affected him the way Romney’s have or even McCain’s in the last cycle.
Again, it all goes to how deeply one is examining the candidates, issues, and history. When people are mostly going about their daily lives and aren’t political junkies, they’re much more susceptible to these broad stroke views of candidates which currently favor Gingrich for a large number of GOP voters.
“What kind of fantasy world do these Newt supporters inhabit?”
Ah, JSpencer, they live in the world where Newt might actually be the best choice among the R’s. I mean, is he really worse than any of the other clowns? I guess Romney isn’t so slimey personally, but he’s also just…awful. Bachmann? Perry? Santorum?? And heaven knows Ron Paul and his anti-war, live-n-let-live thing aren’t going to fly with that group. So: Newt.
@CStanley
Thanks for the input. I’m still in a little shock about his rise, since he’s the last candidate that I could see as a “solid conservative” or “outsider”. You’d think the Fannie fiasco would be enough in and of itself. But you’re making more sense than anything else that’s out there.
I’m still trying wrap my head around it.
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