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Saturday, January 14th, 2012

Poll: 58% of Republicans Want More Presidential Choices

Author:     BRIAN MONTOPOLI
Source:     CBS News
Publication Date:     1/9/2012 18:30
 Link: Poll: 58% of Republicans Want More Presidential Choices
Stephan:   One of the unintended consequences of Citizens United is that politicians can endure as candidates long past their time of sale to the voters. The current situation is an example of how distorted our politics have become, and this poll reflects it. The campaigns of Perry, Santorum, and Gingrich continue to exist only because they are backed by Superpacs. The idea that the Superpac and the candidate are unconnected is so absurd, yet fully blessed by the Supreme Court through Citizens United, that Stewart and Colbert have made it a running skit.

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

The nominating process may officially be underway, but Republicans have yet to enthusiastically embrace a potential nominee for president – and despite the late date, most would like to see other candidates enter the race, according to a new CBS News poll.

The survey finds that 58 percent of Republican primary voters want more presidential choices, while just 37 percent say they are satisfied with the current field. The percentage of Republican primary voters that wants more choices has increased 12 percentage points since October.

Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the nomination, has struggled to break 30 percent support in state and local polls in an election cycle that has seen multiple candidates move ahead of Romney in the polls before seeing their support erode. In this national survey, taken after Romney’s narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses, the former Massachusetts governor leads the field – though he holds just 19 percent support. Only 28 percent of GOP primary voters say they’ve made up their mind, and just 20 percent who’ve made a choice strongly favor their candidate.

It’s mathematically possible for another […]

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