E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
In the upcoming Wisconsin primary, billed as perhaps the final opportunity to change the trajectory of the Republican presidential contest, frontrunner Mitt Romney leads Rick Santorum by seven percentage points, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll. But should he capture the nomination, Romney would start out as the underdog against President Barack Obama, whom Romney trails by double digits.
Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during an event at NuVasive, a maker of devices intended to improve spinal care, in San Diego on March 26, 2012 in California.
In Wisconsin’s April 3 Republican contest, the former Massachusetts governor gets support from 40 percent of likely primary voters, including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a particular candidate. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gets 33 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul gets 11 percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 8 percent. Seven percent of respondents are undecided.
The poll – conducted March 26-27 – is consistent with the findings of a recent Marquette Law School survey, which found Romney leading Santorum by eight points. The Wisconsin race follows a familiar pattern: Romney holds the advantage over Santorum among liberal and moderate Republicans (43 percent to 24 percent), conservatives (42 percent to 33 percent), non-Tea Party supporters (42 percent to 31 percent), and those who earn $75,000 or more annually (47 percent to 32 percent).
Meanwhile, Santorum leads among very conservative primary voters (42 percent to 33 percent), strong Tea Party supporters (40 percent to 32 percent), and evangelical Christians (40 percent to 29 percent).
So far in all the GOP contests where there has been exit polling, Romney has won in every contest where evangelical voters have accounted for less than 50 percent of the electorate. And he has lost in every contest where that number has been higher than 50 percent.
The evangelical percentage among likely Wisconsin GOP primary voters, according to the NBC/Marist poll: 41 percent.
Obama leads in the general election
Looking ahead to the general election, the survey shows Obama holding a sizable advantage over his Republican opposition in this battleground state, which he carried in 2008 but where Republicans made big gains in the 2010 midterms.
Obama leads Romney in Wisconsin among registered voters, 52 percent to 35 percent, with 13 percent undecided. And he edges Santorum, 51 percent to 38 percent, with 11 percent undecided. The poll suggests, however, that both Romney and Santorum would have room to grow in the general election, given that a substantial portion of the undecided vote leans Republican.
Benefiting Obama is growing optimism about the state of the economy (52 percent believe the worst is behind them), as well as a more negative perception of the Republican Party (48 percent say the Democratic Party does a better job in appealing to those who aren’t hard-core supporters, while just 32 percent say that about the GOP).
What’s more, there’s a significant gender gap: Obama leads Romney among women by 25 points (55 percent to 30 percent) and men by 12 points (50 percent to 38 percent). The president’s job-approval rating in Wisconsin stands at 50 percent.
Divided over the recall
As for the recall contest of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, 46 percent of Wisconsin voters say they will support him in that race, while 48 percent indicate they’ll vote for the eventual Democratic candidate who will face off against the incumbent governor.
The approval rating for Walker – who sparked a firestorm of criticism in his effort to curb collective-bargaining rights for the state’s public-sector workers – sits at 48 percent approval, 48 percent disapproval. According to the poll, a majority of likely Republican voters say they’re following the recall more closely than the GOP presidential primary race, 51 percent to 37 percent.
The NBC/Marist poll of Wisconsin was conducted March 26-27 of 2,792 registered voters (with a margin of error of plus-minus 1.9 percentage points) and of 740 likely Republican primary voters (plus-minus 3.6 percentage points).
Leave a Comment:
You knot heads better pray that Romney gets the White House. He is only one that has the guts to do what it takes to get the country back to being what it was meant to be. His up bringing taught him that things has to be done the right way or no way.
What was this country meant to be? Oh yes, playground for the rich, work place for the masses, extreme religious views, women barefoot and pregnant, children seen not heard, no gay people in sight, etc. I think not.
Gman, you can keep trying to make economic slavery to the government sound good by demonizing economic freedom, but it's not going to work.
America has a level playing field for everyone. The rich go out and get it, the middle class get enough to live comfortably, and the poor fail or don't even try.
Freedom works, economic slavery to the govt, of the type leftwingers love, fails every time it's tried.
"America has a level playing field for everyone. "
Only if you're male, white, and at least upper-middle class. Other than that, not so much.
MountainLioness... I commend you for your serenity. I'm ashamed to admit they're wearing me down.
This poll and the rest of the Romney wins just show that the Moral Majority really is the Minority it has always been. Now as Romney can't win against Obama without the right-wing knuckledraggers, President Obama will win another term, though I'm not at all sure that he deserves it.
Now if the Republicans can find a true moderate and not one who pretends to be a Conservative when it politically suit him, they Republican party may have a chance of coming back from obscurity in 2016... but somehow I doubt it.
An overheated industry has gone bust. A tepid economy is not producing enough jobs. And a successful businessman promises he can use his private-sector experience to jump-start the economy.
This is presidential candidate Mitt Romney now, but it was also Romney nearly a decade ago when he ran for governor of Massachusetts, a state that was still reeling from the tech bubble's burst.
Ups and downs in Massachusetts
A core argument of Romney's presidential campaign is that he knows how to create jobs based on his career in finance. As governor, Romney faced his first test in applying his business background to a slow-growing economy — and data show that the results were unremarkable.
Massachusetts was one of just four states that by the time of the financial crisis still had not recovered all the jobs they had lost during the 2001 recession. And, as Romney's opponents have pointed out, the state ranked 47th in job creation during his term.
The parallels between Massachusetts then and the country as a whole now point to the same central problem that has dogged the U.S. economy the last three times it's climbed out of a recession: The recovery hasn't created enough jobs.
Many state policymakers and economists say Romney struggled to apply his business expertise to Massachusetts's problems during his tenure.
"There was this tremendous sense of a lost opportunity. Nobody questioned this was an incredibly capable man," said Stephen Crosby, who was secretary of administration and finance for the two Republican administrations before Romney's. "If he put his skills to work, in a really dedicated and thoughtful and appropriate way, there was a sense that he could've had a much greater positive impact."
Romney's campaign says he curbed the state's unemployment problem.
"As governor he confronted an economy very similar to Obama's economy: high unemployment and no job creation," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement. "Under his leadership and economic reforms the Massachusetts unemployment rate went from 5.6 percent to 4.7 percent and the state had a positive record of nearly 50,000 new jobs created."
But Andrew Sum, a professor of economics at Northeastern University, says the unemployment rate fell only because people were leaving the workforce in droves during Romney's term. Just one state had a bigger drop in its labor force during the same period, according to Sum — that was Louisiana, which was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
By Jia Lynn Yang, Published: February 7
I would vote for Bozo before I would vote for Obama. Literally.
Looks like you will have that opportunity with the current potential Republican candidates.
Good call, smilingphoebs.
south:
Not surprising... he and Spongebob are the only two creatures you can relate to.
no, i just don't like black racist...i see enough of that where I'm from....I don't need it in a prez...well that and he's a muslim wannabe....I'm just picky that way.
Hey south, how do you feel about white racists?
What is absolutely fascinating about this thread... there are some of you that are actually excited that Obama might win again. What has Obama done in the last 3.5 years that makes you all so giddy? I challenge Obama supporters to name one positive (verifiable) thing Obama has done. Please don't mention that his golf game has improved... Give me Romney any day of the week over the guy we have now. And believe me I am neither Republican nor Democrat.
There are many, as per your request, I will only one;
He prevented the Bush recession from becoming the Bush depression.
I did not say rip on Romney, I said to "name one positive thing Obama has done." A hard question, for sure, but there it is.
So Thermen, You bait, then delete your post only to post another seemingly meaningful thought. Very clever! The Bush Recession was really a Clinton recession but the question was not what did Bush do wrong, it was what has Obama done right.
And even the king of the ignorants, can see that Obama only delayed disaster by throwing money, that we did not have, at everything. Don't for a second think that it will not come back to haunt us all.
How the hell was that a Clinton recession? This just goes to show the Fox crowd still does not need facts in their truth. Really?
You want something verifiable that Obama has done? Here ya' go; Osama Bin Laden, bail out of the auto industry, thousands of women and children now with health insurance, many of our troops home from Iraq, and lastly, though slow, this economy is recovering, not as fast as the Republicans would like, but it is recovering. Also, while Clinton was in office, this country enjoyed and abundance of jobs and most people I know always had money in their pockets and didn't have to choose which bill to pay. He also left office leaving a surplus in funds and in 8 years that surplus was spent up and this country was in the red.
Calm down, gman. Let's see what explanation we get first.
Accomplishments?
Bail out of the auto industry? - aka massive handout to his union voter block, please...
Osama Bin Laden dead? - good grief, you can't be that myopic to believe Obama is the reason..
Troops are home? - Obama simply followed the schedule set forth by the previous president
Economy is recovering? - Inflation is right around the corner thanks to Obama's weak dollar policy, don't break your arm patting yourself on the back just yet...
Women and children covered by insurance? - Correct me if I'm wrong but Obamacare hasn't bankrupted us err kicked in yet. Even so, everyone already has access to insurance and health care.
I could go on and on but most of you progressive supporters are set with your handouts and are unable to see past the nose on your face...
Dream on dipsh!t. Ima.
Thanks for the comment Thermen, spoken like a true progressive. This is what you get when a progressive disagrees with you, childish attacks and name calling... Very sad...
@ Ima and As I:
Putting the facts in front of a progressive is damn near useless as they will turn a blind eye to evidence and verifiable statistics EVERY TIME!
Here's one for you liberals:
Name ONE and ONLY ONE CONSERVATIVE program in effect in this country right now. I promise that you cannot do it because there are no CONSERVATIVE programs in this country, every single government program is a progressive program, EVERY ONE. You can name republican programs and democrat programs, NONE ARE CONSERVATIVE. Yet you all want to blame people like me for the problems in this country? LOL why don't you take a long look in the mirror then take a hard look at this country... then tell me who truly is the problem me who only wants the government to get back to Constitutional principles or those of you who push for more, more, more?
What a joke, Obama leads in what liberal poll...oh that's right a liberal news agency. Romney will slaughter Obama!!!!
delusional much. Put the meth pipe down and go outside the trailor for some fresh air!
Get some mental health help, DesertKing
How about consumer protection laws, tax breaks for businesses that hire veterans, how about the equal pay for womenact, how about the many tax breaks for small businesses to encourage hiring, saving the auto industry...
These are but a few, wher have you been man?
He has been stuck in the haze of the Fox delirium.
Time for etch-a sketch candidate romney! The neocons/teabaggers/evantaliban has already reversed course on Latino/Hispanic voters (immigration), and gay rights (marraige). Anyone who can still stand honestly behind romney need to have their head exam'd.
Let's not forget the compulsion to want to throw us back to the days of the coat hanger abortion.
Let's recap Romney: War on women, war on Latinos, war on gays. With all these wars, he might be too busy to go to war anywhere else. Oh, wait. He isn't going to win with alienating so many voters. He also p-offed the Southern folk in the country with his "ya'll."
Regurgitating spin like "etch a sketch" "neocons" and others, leave you looking like an.... Well, you get my point, I think...
Yeah, Marco Rubio, a latino favorite seems really P'd off. And women too, according to recent polls. And the south? Really? You think the south is going to vote democrat. Study up Pat and come back when you understand how things work. All I hear is the same boring empty criticisms of Romney without a single supportive comment for Obama. Great strategy. Bash the other guy and hope no one looks at what your candidate has done. Romney is a financial genius. Obama was a professor of constitutional law and will be known as the president who passed one piece of legislation that was eventually ruled to be unconstitutional by the supreme court. Strong work team.
Amen!
Saving the auto industry? Bankruptcy and reorganization should have been the solution. Don't reward bad business practices. Consumer protection laws? Just what we need are more consumer protection laws. These laws will mean nothing when our country is owned completely by China. Not positive Chip.
Yes, he saved the auto industry, as much as you hate to hear it. As a result, thousands of people are working again and you call that a bad business practice? I am rolling my eyes! Jeez!
He saved the auto industry when Romney said let them go bankrupt. Romney's view is Who cares. The're not MY friends.
Just like his if you don't have health insurance you can just die attitude. Yes, this is just who we want to be President! NOT!
Desert King-That was what my Etch-A-Sketch said.
Thank you to everyone who rises above the comments about anyone's religion being a factor. Religion is weird across the board, that's all there is to it. I would love someone to try and convince me that any religion isn't strange.
And the point that MSNBC doesn't want to call attention to is that Obama is beating Romney in polls because Romney isn't even the candidate yet! Obama is probably beating Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber in the polls too. Once the republicans have a candidate, you will see how fast those things shift. But I am sure you will all still be in denial. I hope you aren't after inauguration day, but I won't hold my breath.
LOL, most of the GOP is cringing over Romney being their candidate. Where have you been? Do you really think he cares about you or America? All he cares about is how much more money he can line his pockets with.
Go Biebs, 2012!
The biggest succeeds that that Romney had was when he took over the Flip-Flop® factory.
Flip-Flops® is a registered trade mark of Willard Romney Inc. and Bain Capitol LLC. All rights reserved.
have to admit nothing has bored me so much for so long than this republican primary. cant wait for the romney obama fun, thats for sure!
As I stand... You're absolutely wrong. There were no investors, NO INVESTORS(!) to support the auto industry bankruptcy. NONE! It would have destroyed the industry and cost the country millions of jobs. They weren't rewarded, the CEO of GM got the boot. Don't you rermember any of this????
So, consumer protection against credit card predatory practices, unfair interest hikes and agreements that only a Cambridge law professor could understand were not needed and a waste of time??? Sheesh... Ya we know how well leaving these businesses to their own devices works out. They almost destroyed our economy.
Ya, The USA is up for sale... Ridiculous. At least make a cogent argument. This is too easy.
Hang in there, Chip. You're doing a fine job and your comments are dead on.
Obama/Biden 2012
I'm not voting for anyone that thinks that Russia is America's biggest geo-political foe,now.Mitt Romney doesn't even know that the Soviet Union dissolved in 1989.Mitt Romney wants to go to war with Iran and Syria.Mitt Romney wants to cut the taxes for the upper 1% and raise everyone else's taxes.Read his 59 Step Economic Plan and if you agree if that then you're a 1%er and you opinion doesn't matter because you're not in the majority.
I'm not a 1%, but I'd sure like to read that 59 Step Economic Plan. Got a link?
Ah yes. Life was so much easier for a radical repub when the 'Red Menace' were our chief advosary. None of this war on an abstarct concept the definition being relative to which world culture, and more probable a much smaller grouping than that, you talk to. I doubt the kids fighting as child soldiers, with American bought weapons of course, in Africa would have the same definition for 'terror' as Buffy and Skip learning equestrian skills on their parents country home in the Berkshires. None of this 'war' on a religion. This 'crusade', as Boy George referred to it. Just a good ole "Fear the Commies! They're coming to rape your daddies! They'll be fatherrapers!! And litterers!!!! FEAR!!!" Now it's all wishy washy and too full of political quicksand for the unwary and those corporate biased and against the working middle class and the working poor, though the message is same ole' BS "Fear the (fill in the blank)_____. They're coming to rape your daddies! They'll be fatherrapers!! etc." Not even magic underwear is going to help Romney. lol
Don't just wait until November or listen to the polls. The evangelicals will show up to vote. We need to beat Obama. Only Mitt does this.
ROMNEY/RUBIO or ROMNEY/RYAN 2012 & 2016
Why do we need to beat Obama?
Romney trails Obama by just 1% in today's Rasmussen poll 45% to 46%.
Cogent arguments require thought and they are incapable of thought they just vote the party-line.We can't go back to where Dubya left us.I don't think we could survive a second disaster like dubya left us.But the right is trying to deny that all that ever happened,it's called selective amnesia.
dumbdonkey, no need for self-flagellation with that name. Your note tells us everything we need to know.
You're trying to rewrite history. We LOANED them money. Money they're paying back.
Mountain Lioness -I just typed in " Romney's 59 Step Economic Plan ".
SANTORUM is NOT a nut. He's for big government(so he says on a clip I saw recently) and a liberal if you look at his voting record (Voted for individual mandate, cap and trade, voted many times with the Democrats, on and on) Yes, he is a family values man. Many HAVE been duped and listened to what he says, not what he is. He has said at lease a thousand times "I'm the most conservative" of the candidates and, in my opinion, he is the least conservative of the 4 candidates. He was defeated by a whopping 18 points on his Senate seat. He has little organisation to mount a campain against Obama.
ABO
Dumbdonkey_you're living up to your handle.The UAW took a bath on their pension plan,the UAW took a reduction in their wages and the GM and Chrysler both had to cut white collar jobs and both companies lost their C.E.O.'s.Those are just the facts that I can remember off the top of my head.There were more concessions but I don't remember them.Pease try to refrain from making unfounded statements that is what Faux News bases their programming on.
Those were some rewards, eh tiredofit???
The disaster happened through no fault of the poor slob on the assembly line. They worked hard and they were rewarded. The CEOs (this hardly ever happens) got what they deserved.
Edward Deming had it exactly right, management owns the success or failure of a business. Not the working person.
This is for you, dumbdonkey;
You forgot to mention: Obama, I believe: gave 40% of the stock of GM to the union, using tax payer dollars, to reward unions for their support!!!!!!!!! Is that graft or corruption? Obama has spent his whole presidency paying off people for their support for his reelection. I predict: that we only know the "tip of the iceburg."
"Obama, I believe: gave 40% of the stock of GM to the union"
You may believe that but I'm sure you have no proof.
Wing-nuts don't need facts, they make up their own.
Mountain Lioness, beyond the outright loans, the government boughT a ton of the crap stock of these enterprises, and unless they reach a high level, the American taxpayer loses money on the deal. They paid the loans back...now we'll see if we ever make any money on the huge stock investment we made.
The Response to all Rich Corporations (Banks, Car Companies, anything) who fall on hard times in the future, and come and beg for a bailout from the government should be: DROP DEAD
golfsleft & Therman Merman, Did you listen to the news at the time or block out what you didn't want to hear? It took me almost 3 minutes to surf the Internet to come up with the below link which is just the "tip of the iceburg" on a long list of articles on the issues.