Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears to be the early front-runner in the largely unformed race for the Republican nomination for president, but real estate magnate Donald Trump may be a surprise contender, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Among Republican primary voters, Mr. Romney captured the support of 21% in a broad, nine-candidate field. Mr. Trump was tied for second with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with 17%. House Speaker Newt Gingrich got 11%, just ahead of former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s 10%. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, considered a strong contender by political handicappers, remains largely unknown, with just 6% support. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota had 5%, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum 3%, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour with just 1%.
Mr. Trump “may be a punch line but when he talks about the way to solve our problems, he makes a lot of sense to the average guy out there,” said Todd Mauney, a conservative Republican in Weatherford, Texas. “I don’t know if people can get over him being the butt of every joke but for me, he can be serious when it’s time to make real decisions.“
In a narrower field of five candidates, excluding Mr. Trump but including Messrs. Gingrich, Pawlenty and Barbour and Ms. Bachmann, Mr. Romney comes out with a comfortable 20-point lead, 40% to Mr. Gingrich’s second-place 20%. Mr. Pawlenty had 12% and Ms. Bachmann 11%. Mr. Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chief and chairman of the Republican Governors Association, has a powerful fund-raising network and a vast Rolodex of contacts, but he has yet to catch on with primary voers. He garnered 3% of the support of those polled.
21 comments:
It's like you were saying in class... if Donald Trump is the best you can do... then it's not looking good. The thing is like the man interviewed I believe Trump might not be a bad candidate as far as beliefs go. But as an image for America? No. Not a man with his own reality TV show and "hairstyle". It's ridiculous. Luckily, Romney is polling ahead of him for now. Romney would be a much better face for America and has much more political experience. Running a business is nice and all... but the country needs more than a business owner at its helm. Other contenders are interesting too. There's the perennial candidate Gingrich. The two token women, Bachmann and Palin, both rather ridiculous political characters. (Of course, this is media influenced. I'm sure some Dem. candidates are this way too... but do we see it portrayed? No, of course not.) And then some people who I've never heard of, and as the poll shows, neither has anyone else. For Romney to stay in the running he has to appeal to more Republican voters than he did in the last primaries. His positions were not broad enough to garner him enough votes. McCain was appealed to less staunchly conservative GOP members and Romney will have to do so to become the GOP candidate and have a serious run for the presidency.
First off, yay for Mitt Romney! Secondly, Donald Trump, seriously? In the government book it said most presidential candidates have either been in the House, the Senate, or a State governor prior to running for president. Since Trump hasn't been any of those three, hopefully people will realize how inexperienced and awful it would be to have Donald Trump even run for president. Trump certainly has the money to fund his campaign, however, I highly doubt many people would vote for him and I hope they don't. He is an incredible business man, but he lacks political experience, especially when it comes to military issues.
Wow i thought Mr. Perry was joking when he said that Trump was running for the republican candidate...he is right though it looks like the republican party could be in serious trouble. I do not believe however that Donald will stay there however because Romney and Huckabee are great runners as well. I wonder if he will have an effect like Reagan though where a media star can prevail and be a good president. I cant wait until elections start because i will finally be able to vote! I never thought i would actually be excited about it until i had this class...
The first time I heard Donald trump may be running for president, I was pretty skeptical. But the more I think about his experience as an economist and a fortune-500 business owner, the more I convince myself that it's a legitimate idea. He knows how to make hard but smart decisions, handle large sums of money, AND he's not afraid to tell it how it is. I have a feeling if Arnold Schwarzenegger can become the governor of California, Trump may just be the president of 2012.
That would be so cool to have Donald Trump as president. But I wouldn't vote for him myself. Cool idea but I don't know if it's more then that.If Palin becomes the vice president, or even wins the republican nomination, I might just shoot myself. There are a lot of influential people running for the republican nomination it will be interesting to see the turn out. I wonder if Romney will remain it the lead or be overtaken by Trump?
Trump is a well known successful American. I am not surprised he is one of the most popular candidates for 2012. He is capable of financing a campaign with his own money, he is already known by many millions of people, and he knows how to run a highly successful business conglomerate. The US has had celebrity presidents before, Ronald Reagan was a movie star before becoming president, and many other presidents have had roots in business. If Trump wants to be a serious candidate for the next election, he could have a real chance at winning the nomination, and possibly the election.
Really? Donald Trump? It seems that anyone can become President. Can he really even help out our nations needs? I can't believe that we are thinking about voting for a celebrithy.
I'm still not sure if I think Donald Trump will run for President or not. He is very compelling and seems to have the right ideas. He talks like he's going to run and says the reason he hasn't announced his candidacy is because of his show on NBC. I wonder if he's just trying to fire the republican party up and scare the democrats.
I don't know that I can see Trump running for president. I have nothing against him as a person but, I believe his status is almost too high to become president and that he is too intertwined with our pop culture to be considered. Now I have heard some of his ideas and I will say that they aren't bad at all. I just think it will be too hard to take him seriously because of his status. Who knows though, this could actually bump him up because of all the popularity that he has.
I really dont think the idea of Donald Trump as a contender for the president carries much weight. Right now he may be able to cover and adress issues that relate to the voters but later in the election i think they will realize that he is not who they want running the U.S
I really dont think the idea of Donald Trump as candidate for the presidency holds much weight. As of now he might be able to adress the issues that relate to the voters but later in the election he will have a difficult time winning supporters.
I agree that Trump should be seriously considered. I haven't really looked into his views and ideas, but I think everyone trying to run should at least be considered. We live in America. All I know for sure is, Trump has the money to run.
I think that Trump running is quite funny. What makes it even better is the fact that he is tied for 2nd at the moment. I can't see Trump being a serious and legitimate candidate. At least he would have a nice-looking campaign, right?
I feel that Donald Trump does not have the political experience that people considered for president usually have. However, his position as the head of his own business does give him some leadership qualities that are necessary for the presidential position. If people consider him a good candidate for the election and able to perform what the position requires, then it is up to them to decide the presidential candidate.
The only reason people are actually considering this is because i mean...trump's a gajillionare! they think that if he's boss he can turn the economy around. his ideas got him this far why can't it work for us too? naw. i don't think so. it's clearly more for publicity than anything. but the idea of it isn't bad...
Haha I think it would be extremely interesting come voting season if Donald Trump became a realistic contender for the presidency. I don't know about all of Mr. Trumps beliefs but I do know that if I were a legal voter I would have a hard time giving my vote to the boss of the celebrity apprentice. It definitely would be interesting though. I would love to hear Mr. Trump talk about his ideas and beliefs in the political arena. Maybe he would be the right man for the job. I find that hard to believe but I can't judge seeing as how I have no idea what the man believes or what he would do if elected to office...definitely something I will be keeping up with.
The fact that he makes his problem solving tactics sound comical... To me just makes me wonder what the heck are they thinking over there! Yes he is as they say "good at making decisions when it comes down to it", but really... Is this some sort of joke?
Oh my lord. I wonder why both parties are putting forward their worst at a time like this. Hopefully the Republican party can put forward a serious candidate this time around..
Mr. Trump as the Republican presidential candidate in the 2012 election would definitely be sight to see in deed. Although this may be an amusing possibility, I doubt the Trump would attract enough votes to win the republican nomination let alone the presidency. Trump may have viable solutions to the multitude of problems America faces, but the fact still remains that he does not have to contact network that most career politicians have and this is an absolute necessity for any individual seeking the Oval Office. I find it hard to believe that the American people might choose a real estate mogul to be the next Presidential of the United States, but then again the presidential election is a glorified popularity contest in which the individual who spends the most money tends to win.
I honestly don't know about Donald Trump. When I first heard his candidacy, I thought it was a joke. Now I guess it is not. I have yet to be convinced that Trump has any serious qualifications for such a position as president of this nation.
I actually thought Donald Trump was a rather serious contender. He knows how to make money, and he knows how to spend money properly. However, he's too aggressive. Our foreign relations would go down the drain. Right now, our country needs someone with economic smarts, but we don't want to plummet into anymore wars.
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