Raleigh, N.C. – Yesterday’s release showed that all of the GOP’s leading contenders to face Barack Obama next year currently trail him. Part of the reason is that, except for Mitt Romney, voters see them more as running mates than as presidents.
When asked whether they view these candidates as more suited to be Commander in Chief or Numero Dos, voters see only Romney as more presidential than vice-presidential material (30-20). And even then, half of voters are not sure. For Huckabee, that is 22-27, with 51% unsure. For Gingrich, 16-27 (57% unsure). And for Palin, last election’s GOP VP nominee, the divide is 16-32 (52% unsure).
Tuesday’s release showed that among even Republicans, only Romney and Huckabee are viewed as more fit for the Oval Office than for a warm bucket of spit, meaning they all have a lot of work to do to convince even their own voters they are ready for the task, let alone swing voters.
Palin usually is the biggest turn-off to both Democrats and independents. But interestingly, while Palin does unsurprisingly worst overall on this question, Democrats actually give her better marks (7-16) than they do for Huckabee (8-21) or Gingrich (4-18). Romney nearly breaks even across the aisle, 13-16. Rather, it is independents who most strongly slot Palin at the bottom of the ticket, 13-34. By contrast, unaffiliated voters break almost 2:1 (37-19) for Romney’s White House ambitions and respective 21-32 and 15-28 against Huckabee’s and Gingrich’s.
Women are even more fine than men with keeping the glass ceiling in place for Palin, saying by a 12-30 margin that she is better off for the job McCain picked her for; that compares to men’s 20-33. Those are the worst marks of anyone with the female gender. They say Romney is fit for president by four points, and they give Huckabee only a -3 and Gingrich a -13. Romney is also the only one with positive marks from men (35-18), versus 24-30 for Huckabee and 19-29 for Gingrich.
“As television pundits and previous candidates and office holders, all four of these candidates are already very well-known quantities,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Yet even their own base has questions about their readiness to lead the country, not to mention independents and Democrats.”
PPP surveyed 600 registered American voters from February 11th to 14th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you think Newt Gingrich is most qualified to
be President or Vice President?
President………………………………………………… 16%
Vice president …………………………………………. 27%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 57%
Q2 Do you think Mike Huckabee is most qualified
to be President or Vice President?
President………………………………………………… 22%
Vice president …………………………………………. 27%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 51%
Q3 Do you think Sarah Palin is most qualified to be
President or Vice President?
President………………………………………………… 16%
Vice president …………………………………………. 32%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 52%
Q4 Do you think Mitt Romney is most qualified to
be President or Vice President?
President………………………………………………… 30%
Vice president …………………………………………. 20%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 50%
Q5 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain…………………………………………… 43%
Barack Obama………………………………………… 49%
Someone Else/Don’t Remember………………… 9%
Q6 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 8%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 30%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 25%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q7 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 50%
Man……………………………………………………….. 50%
Q8 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a
Republican, press 2. If you are an independent
or identify with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 38%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 20%
Q9 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 8%
White …………………………………………………….. 76%
African-American …………………………………….. 13%
Other……………………………………………………… 3%
Q10 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 10%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 30%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 40%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
