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Washington pundits, bloggers, talk show hosts and cable ideological show talkers may pooh-pooh the idea, but a new polls finds that many Republicans want former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to make a third fun for the White House. A poll like this is likely to help him with donors who feel it’s Been There/Done That with Romney, but don’t expect it to influence the pundits. It’s a fascinating poll, indeed:
According to a new CBS News survey, however, nearly six in 10 Republicans (59%) say they’d like to see Romney run for the White House in 2016, compared to 26% who disagree.
Romney confirmed Friday night in a speech at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting that he’s seriously thinking about jumping back into the fray, hinting that his campaign would focus on making the world safer and lifting people out of poverty.
Some of this can be name recognition, of course. And some of this could be the natural process where someone looks attractive — until he or she actually announces and is being seriously considered.
The poll indicates that Romney is in stronger demand, or at least has higher name recognition, than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who’s wanted to run by 50% of Republicans, while 27% don’t want him to run.
That makes Romney and Bush — who members not popular at all with the party’s primary-dominating Tea Party wing — as the preceived frontrunners. And both are considered establishment types. The biggest fall from poll grace is seen in the numbers for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie:
Less than a third — 29% — say they’d like to see New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie jump in, while 44% think he shouldn’t run for president. Such underwater numbers come as Christie struggles to find relevance among the donor and business class against heavyweight competition like Romney and Bush.
And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who seems to be trying to carve out a completely different constituency by often being of his own party’s attitude towards minority voters and its hard line on foreign policy?
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky also has an underwater rating, with 27% of Republicans wanting him to run, compared to 34% who wouldn’t liked to see a Paul for president campaign. Thirty-eight percent say they don’t know enough to say.
And file this in your Yes It Keeps (His) Hope Alive file. Good news for The Huckster:
Forty percent of Republicans, meanwhile, would like to see former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ended his Fox News show earlier this month to more seriously consider a second presidential bid, to throw his hat into the ring, while 29% disagree.
And towards the bottom of the heap?
Slightly more than a quarter (26%) want Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to run, while 21% say the same about Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. As for the remainder of the potential GOP field, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has interest at 21%, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is at 14%, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gets 22%, renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson is at 21%, and former Sen. Rick Santorum comes in at 19%.
No wonder Santorum is talking about ditching his sweater vest.
graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.