Tag: mitt romney skepticism

Michele Bachmann Takes Lead in National Polling of GOP Primary Voters

Insurgent Tea Party candidate Michele Bachmann has narrowly taken the lead in PPP’s latest national poll of the Republican presidential primary:

Michele Bachmann’s momentum continues to build and she’s taken first place by the smallest of margins on PPP’s newest national Presidential poll. 21% of Republican primary voters say she’s their top choice to 20% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Rick Perry, 11% for Herman Cain, 9% for Ron Paul, 7% for Newt Gingrich, 5% for Tim Pawlenty, and 3% for Jon Huntsman.

Bachmann’s rise has been fueled by her appeal to voters on the far right- and their skepticism about Romney. Romney has the lead with centrist Republicans (23-17) and with those defining themselves as only somewhat right of center (24-17). But among ‘very conservative’ voters only 48% have a positive opinion of Romney to 34% who view him negatively, weak numbers, and Bachmann’s capitalizing on that with a 26-15 lead over Romney, who’s in third place with that group of voters.

She may be peaking too soon; Obama didn’t seize the national lead in Democratic primary polls until 2008. Also note the not-yet-announced Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s strong showing; he can expect a bounce when he does enter the race next month.