PPP surveyed 400 Republican primary voters nationwide from February 11th to 13th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.9%.
For the second month in a row, Mike Huckabee heads the national field of Republican presidential candidates, but his lead has shrunk considerably as Mitt Romney has gained. Last month, Huckabee had a 24-14 advantage over Romney and Sarah Palin, but now he has declined to 20% over Romney’s 17%, Palin’s 15%, and Newt Gingrich’s 12%. As usual, four other candidates earn single-digit support, and the “second-place candidate” is the 18% who are undecided or favor someone unnamed. With no one having officially declared his candidacy, this race is anybody’s ballgame.
A 51% majority of national GOP primary voters erroneously think President Obama was not born in the U.S. 28% know that he was. With the latter, Palin’s favorability rating is 41-52—other than Ron Paul, the only candidate these voters view negatively. But with birthers, she has a soaring 83-12, far higher than for any of the others. Luckily for Huckabee, he does well with both groups, leading Palin 24-19 with birthers and trailing Romney only 17-19 with non-birthers.
When asked whether the top four are more suited to be President or Vice President, Romney gets the best marks, 50-24, followed by Huckabee’s 44-28. The numbers for Palin are flipped, with 29% saying she is more qualified for the Oval Office and 46% thinking her slated for #2. Overwhelming majorities of all the other candidates’ supporters think Palin best for the veep slot, while everyone, even Palin’s supporters, think Romney fit for the top of the ticket.
Two prospective candidates who made waves with activists at this past weekend’s CPAC were Paul and Donald Trump. But neither man is well liked by the overall base. Paul is viewed negatively, 30-37, and Trump’s numbers with Republicans look like Palin’s with the general electorate, 29-56. By contrast, the other candidates are seen favorably by 55-65% of GOP partisans.