The latest Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll released this week shows that the majority of GOP voters would be more likely to back
Newt Gingrich than Mitt Romney.
The latest Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll released this week shows that the majority of GOP voters would vote for Newt Gingrich as opposed to Mitt Romney. The survey was conducted among 1,000 adults.
The poll reveals that 40 percent of likely GOP voters currently back former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, compared with 23 percent who prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. If, at this moment in time, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney went head to head, the former House speaker would receive a massive 59 percent of the votes, against 36 for the former governor.
Yet, in a head to head contest against President Barack Obama, voters indicate that Mr. Romney would have a better chance of defeating the president, with Mr. Obama receiving 47 percent of the votes, compared with 45 percent for Mr. Romney. However, the president would obtain 51 percent of the votes if he faced Mr. Gingrich, who would only manage to attract 40 percent of voters. A survey published by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday found that 35 percent of respondents believed Mr. Gingrich had the best chance to beat Mr. Obama, while only 29 percent thought Mr. Romney could win the presidency.
The survey also shows that the president is still failing to convince a large portion of the electorate that he is acting in the best interest of the country. When asked whether they thought Mr. Obama was doing a good job as president, those questioned were pretty much divided, with 46 percent who thought he was, compared with 48 percent who felt he wasn’t.
However, when asked about the president’s handling of the economy, 57 percent felt he had performed poorly, whereas 39 percent praised his performance.
In addition, when asked whether they felt “things in the nation” were “generally headed in the right direction,” only 22 percent of those polled thought they were, whereas a massive 57 percent believed things were “off on the wrong track.” Incidentally, 24 percent of those who participated in the survey stated that Mr. Obama’s biggest failure was his inability to improve the state of the economy.
Finally, 30 percent of those surveyed believe the economy will get better in the next 12 months, compared with 22 percent who predict it will deteriorate. 47 percent of respondents expect the economy to “stay about the same”.
The poll also indicated that voters view the current members of Congress in a very negative way. 42 percent stated that “their overall performance and accomplishments” this year ranked among the worst in living memory. 31 percent supported the work performed by the Democrats, whereas 62 percent felt negatively about them. When asked the same question about Republican congressmen and women, 69 percent disapproved of their work, with only 26 percent stating they were doing a good job.
