Rasmussen 2012 Presidential Qualifications Survey
Is Mitt Romney qualified to be President of the United States?
- Yes 43% [49%] (49%)
- No 28% [25%] (32%)
- Not sure 29% [25%] (20%)
Is Herman Cain qualified to be President of the United States?
- Yes 30% [18%]
- No 33% [35%]
- Not sure 37% [47%]
Is Rick Perry qualified to be President of the United States?
- Yes 30%
- No 44%
- Not sure 27%
Is Ron Paul qualified to be President of the United States?
- Yes 27% [27%]
- No 46% [43%]
- Not sure 28% [31%]
Is Michele Bachmann qualified to be President of the United States?
- Yes 21% [20%]
- No 56% [45%]
- Not sure 23% [34%]
Survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted September 26-27, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted June 2-3, 2011 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted June 17-18, 2010 are in parentheses.
Inside the numbers:
Sixty-four percent (64%) of GOP voters say Romney is qualified, 52% say the same of Perry, and 49% think Cain is up to the job. Fewer than one-in-five GOP voters believe any of these three are unqualified.
Republicans are evenly divided on Bachmann’s qualifications — 35% say she’s qualified and 37% say she’s not.
Among GOP voters, just 29% see Paul as qualified to be president.
Cain is seen as the most qualified candidate among Tea Party voters while Romney is viewed that way by non-Tea Party members.
–Data compilation and analysis courtesy of The Argo Journal.
September 29th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
And the Perry slide continues…
September 29th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Is Mitt Romney qualified to be President of the United States?
•Yes 43% [49%]
Good to see Willard tanking.
September 29th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
How do you spell Rick Perry?
T O A S T
September 29th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Wow, so among the top-tier candidates the ONLY one people believe is qualified is Mitt Romney, by a long shot.
Barring someone else doesn’t get in this race like Giuliani or Christie, Romney’s going to win this thing. These numbers are jaw-dropping.
September 29th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Cain beat Perry in the qualification survey.
That’s awesome. LOL!
September 29th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Considering Perry has been governor for 10 1/2 years of the second largest state in the country, the fact that a plurality of people don’t consider him qualified can only mean that people are realizing he’s a dumbass.
September 29th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Huntsman would undoubtedly do very well in this poll, assuming sufficient name recognition.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Craig –
Hello Beam – I’m mote!
44% unqualified. HAHAHAHAHA!!!
September 29th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Rush going crazy again, but making a good point re: the election of Rubio. Charley Crist was establishment candidate for whom Fl needed to vote to matter what because he had an “R” after his name and Pubs could get all the committee chairmanships. Rubio was the unknown outsider, supported by the Tea Party and endorsed by DeMint (although I believe Huck takes credit).
Rush makes that election as the “microcosm” of what we’re up against now: True conservatives against Romney,whom Rush today labeled as “establishment” and stated “Romney is Crist.”
Can I just say I hate those kinds of comparisons: Nobody is anybody unless they are identical twins living identical lives.
Rush wants to diss Christie for not being conservative; he wants to diss Romney, making the case for Rubio and Reagan.
OK, Rush, but WHO is the Reagan or Rubio in the field right now? Tell us and we’ll all vote for him/her. But until you have a viable alternative to Romney, quit taking him down–while saying that the RINO establishment is “hurting the party” by not settling on a true conservative.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Maybe Cain will be the new conservative “white” knight.
I like him but he scares me; he’s kind of a loose cannon.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Cain is like Obama in the sense that he has no record of actual governing. Romney, Perry, Christie and Huckabee have actual records that people can attack. I believe this is huge. It’s easy to be a purist (right or left) when you’ve never actually governed.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Craig -
There are no words (that can be used on this site) to describe your idiotic comments.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
KG,
“Nobody is anybody unless they are identical twins living identical lives.”
Even then, they would have separate souls, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion…
September 29th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
12. This will make you feel better:
http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/tv/Colbert-Report/94816/12030258/The-Colbert-Report-9-27-2011/videos?skipTo=231&cmpid=FCST_hp_xfinitytv
September 29th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
ROMNEY/CAIN 2012. Impeach Obama.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
8.
Ben, you have to be nice to Craig and his man Perry. President Romney will be their President, too, and some Obama opponents need our help more than others.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Romney IS conservative, and Rush Limbaugh supported him in 2008. Romney is arguably more conservative now than he was in 2008.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Not looking good for gov. gardasil!
September 29th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Ouch!
Cain beating Perry in the qualification question?
This has got to hurt.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
17
How is Mitt “arguably more conservative now than he was in 2008″?? That’s just what I don’t get… Mitt hasn’t changed on any issue since then, but all these people who supported him in 2008 (like Rush) now think he’s a moderate even though he was still the “conservative choice” when compared to both Huck and McCain. What gives??
September 29th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
It seems to be the hard left wants to dismantle the US and replace it with their pure anti-capitalist ideology. The hard right (I’m kinda one) wants to dismantle much of the government and replace it with pure constitutional conservatism. Cain want to dismantle the tax code; he wants to dismantle the EPA (and build it again in some fashion; doesn’t say how). Perry wants (wanted) to dismantle SS.
Both right and left ideology require dismantling–”fundamentally transforming America” from his current state.
How childish is all this? The world economy is a house of cards. It’s always depended on people having faith in it and now people have no faith. It’s easy to see how all this comes crashing down.
People complain Romney is a terrific “manager” but will not do the right thing and dismantle the country in favor of constitutional conservativism. Huh?
September 29th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
Romney reminds me a lot of Reagan. Their calm demeanor, their blue state governorships, their ability to work with and draw in Democrats.
For all the criticism Romney gets over his flip-flops and the questions people have with his core values, you can’t deny that since he finished his term as Governor, he’s been a super-stalwart Reagan Republican. A faker wouldn’t be able to pull it off for six years like Romney has.
I think people realize that Romney is fighting for the Right. He’s had to make tough choices in the past, but he’s on our team when all is said and done.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
8, lol. That was beautiful, or as someone I know would say…
Comedy Gold.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Perry/Jeb…..Mitt is just “sharing” a few votes with Cain for a bit. Apparently he got a LOT MORE votes from Perry!
September 29th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
2
Hey Craig,
I give you props for even showing up. I don’t see too many other Perry supporters on here right now – at least, none who openly still admit it. Don’t forget that Perry has won about a dozen races and never lost. And this isn’t the first time he’s been down in the polls. Another point for Perry is that Cain is not going to be a very good “anti-Romney,” since he’s way to friendly with the Mittster, and has basically said he’ll endorse him in the future. Perry is still the best place for Mitt-haters to go, provided Perry can actually improve his debates and not be a laughing stock.
September 29th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
#9 K.G.
Rush wants chaos, he wants divided Republican party….Now it sounds like he’s pushing his show in the direction of an anti-Romney movement…..
September 29th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
The house is about to burn down and people are arguing whether progressivism or capitalism or conservativism or will enflame it or save it. I say quit worrying what -ism is going to save humanity.
Just figure out what needs to be done–and it cannot be radical and cataclysmic; things are too fragile. It has to be sensible and sane. Like Scott Walker taking on the unions. Incremental and justifiable. Even he got a ton of pushback and Trumpka et al are still making plans for more.
Everybody agrees that what’s killing the economy is unpredictability and yet some are calling for radical, unpredictable changes. I fear Cain’s 9-9-9 and the Chilean SS plan would be just that.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Just as I suspected. People are still unsure about Cain. His bump in recent polling is more of a reflection of the weak frontrunners and the inability of any one candidate to really catch fire……..
The other sad thing about this poll – it reveals that roughly 1/3 of the electorate cast their votes based on ‘popularity’. Very sad indeed……
September 29th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
#26 LV: OMGoodness, Rush is a full-out front assualt on Romney just now….but offering NO alternative. He’s lost his mind.
Maybe you heard his parting shot on today’s show: “I know there’s a lot of anti-Romney feeling out there!!!!!”
Well, no kidding. If they are Rush listeners.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
#26…..agree.
I’m Mittster. The reason I do NOT like Perry—oops—reasonS:
1)promotes himself politically w/religion (prayer/rally revival just to precede his race (yet has LOW charitable contributions—not even a “tithe”) 2) hpv vaccine exec mandate order/conservative “saved” the public (THIS is a conservative?!!?) 3) Trans TX corridor 4)Crony capitalism
THEN……in the past 8 days……LIES from Perry, the so-called “Christian”. This is NOT Mitt’s camp calling them……the media has! (well, except the lame conservative media who have lost their integrity!)
September 29th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
#29………Email Limbaugh and we let others know that Limbaugh is manipulating the vote……for WHAT reason??? Well……the obvious is….if Romney wins the WH, Limbaugh will have a LOT less to yap about, won’t he??
I hate to be cynical, but……what other reason is he constantly emphasizing HIS flipflop on Romney?!?
September 29th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
16. Oh, if I have to……………….
He doesn’t read my posts anyways though. I’ve been on his ignore list for some time.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
#30 HaHa.
I actually could get past the college tuition thing (the state wanted to spend their money that way), I could get past the Gardisil thing (parents could opt out), I can get past the prayer rally (public prayer for the welfare of the country could be a good thing), and crony capitalism (I have to hear more about that.
What I cannot get past is Perry’s arrogant, swaggering ignorance. I would be terrified to see him in the WH. I would not, could not, under ANY circumstances vote for him for POTUS. I will write somebody else’s name first.
However, it looks like a bunch of others are beginning to feel the same way. I suspect those who support him still do so because he’s of their religious persuasion. I hope they can be persuaded we need a smart person in the WH.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
This is bad for Perry. His “qualified” numbers are essentially the same as Ron Paul’s.
I don’t know if he can survive without a solid debate performance.
Conservatives are abandoning him for Cain.
That means that either Perry OR Cain has to impress from this point forward….or we’re going to be stuck with Romney.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Rush doesn’t want Romney. Rush never wanted Romney. He gave Romney lukewarm support in 2008 because he has a personal vendetta against McCain, because McCain has a history of bad mouthing the party for his own personal gain.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Romney supporters + voter that support him over Obama for being “stuck” with = Obama goes down. We accept your reluctant support Sojourner.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
33, that ignorance of his is what scares me the most. I, too, doubt that I could vote for him.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
#31 Rush is absolutely denying he ever supported Romney (last time.) No. I certainly thought he was. Rush was down on McCain and really down on Huck, for some reason, but toward the end of the primary, he (and all the others) really touted Romney.
Rush certainly seems to be fighting for his professional life lately. Maybe polling we don’t know about? He’s getting kind of stale, IMO.
Or, with Mitt in the WH, as you say, he can’t really rave about him–or rant against him.
Rush truly needs Obama, but he doesn’t need money (needs attention though). Would Rush throw the country under the bus for ego gratitification?
September 29th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
31 CF,
It could be that compared to the field and frontrunner in 08, Romney was Conservative. But with Bachmann, Cain,and Perry in now, Romney isn’t the Conservative alternative. Christie not getting in would have to tick off Rush as it would have aided Perry/Cain more than Romney.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Ding ding ding. We have a winner!
September 29th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
K.G. #29
Rush’s last call of the day was a tea partier and she said that Rush taught her well and that she would never vote for Romney…He’s been controlling the narative up until Perry imploded…Now with Christie making noise and Romney going up in the polls I think he feels he’s losing control…I think it is all about his ego…He’s thinks he’s leading of the It’s going beyond ideology..He sounds so vindictive and well just kind of out of control.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Rush’s logic is a pretty convoluted and ultimately nonsensical. “The Establishment is not happy with the Establishment (according to Rush) candidate Romney. The Establishment does not want a limited government conservative because conservative policies would limit establishment power. Therefore, even tho Romney is a RINO who likes government solutions, the Establishment wants to run their own RINO candidate, Christie.
So……even tho the Establishment wants to run Christie to take out true conservatives, a Christie run (according to Rush and this is true, IMO) takes out Romney.
I think the Pub Establishment just wants a rational candidate who can win (and whom they control). They don’t believe Mitt can win for many reasons we’ve discussed here before and they can’t control him. They don’t believe any of the other candidates can win either.
Christie, whatever his ideology, is a charming warrior who would fire things up and beat the snot out of Obama.
Christie could win–just on the basis of his personality inspite of skeletons, etc.. Christie doesn’t want the hassle and maybe not even the job.
But Rush is an idiot for trying to take down Mitt and Christie in favor of who? Some yet to be announced Reagan or Rubio?
September 29th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
33
Are you talking about the nomination, or the actual vote in Nov, 2012? Because if it’s Perry vs Obama, I’ll walk over broken glass to vote for Perry. Obama may be smarter, but what he knows is wrong. Perry, at least, will have advisors around him that won’t let him do anything TOO stupid.
With that said, I really hope we get someone smart, AND capable, AND conservative. Mitt is the only one who fits the bill. Rush and others won’t mind being proven wrong, though, because things will finally move in the right direction!
September 29th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
42 – The establishment is reluctant to back Romney (though they likely would eventually given a lack of better options) because they don’t trust him.
The base doesn’t like Romney because they don’t trust him AND because they don’t think he is really a conservative.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
I stopped listening to Rush a long time ago. I think it was sometime in 2007, or maybe even sooner. He made a huge big point on his show that so blatantly untrue that he absolutely had to know it. At that point he jumped the shark for me.
I realized at that point that the man is an entertainer. In order to be relevant, he has to entertain. If he cannot attract and hold an audience, he’s done for. If that requires him to bend the truth to appeal to his audience, he’s going to do it.
So I barely pay any attention to him anymore. Sure, he’s very entertaining and even a little insightful sometimes, but his schtick has just gotten too old for me.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
I just saw a report that both Rush and Hannity’s ratings have gone down like 31% over the past few months. I think this has a lot do with their Anti-Romney campaign.
This isn’t about money. If it was, they wouldn’t be so biased against Romney. It’s about deep ideological, and cultural hatred. The source of which, I’ll never fully understand.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
No dude, it’s because LAST YEAR at this time we were gearing up for midterm elections.
Trust me, Rush’s audience is going to climb markedly by next year at this time – regardless of whether or not he offers Romney a big fat wet kiss.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Rush has lot “it” and a 20+ year listener. If Obama wins this election he will have played a big part in it.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
#39
I’ve always been conservative, but the definition of conservative has changed..People like Rush has taken the party to the extreme right wing when the majority is center-right….There isn’t a candidate out there that will ever fit his idea of conservative….Unless he runs himself, and he doesn’t have the guts.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
LV – Besides not being giddy at the prospect of a Romney nomination – what is it about Rush’s ideology that you find “extreme”?
September 29th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
48
*lost
47
I don’t care if he supports Romney or not, but to actively try to put Perry into the nomination for his own personal gain is unacceptable. Rush would like to have his buddy Ricky in the white house so he has access like he did when GW was there.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
What do you mean? His own personal gain?
If anything ROMNEY would have to kiss up to Rush even MORE than Perry?
Why? Because Limbaugh’s audience likes Perry more than they like Romney. Romney would need to go on Limbaugh’s show to prove his conservatism to a skeptical audience of over 13 million.
Rush has more leverage with a ROMNEY nomination than he would with a Perry nomination.
September 29th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
#46.CF….I just listen to Rush because I’m a political junkie, but almost all of my friends who used to listen to him at work, their cars, and at home listen to someone else now…and none of my family listen anymore…..I know that’s a drop in a bucket, but he can’t afford to lose any listeners…
September 29th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
#51 thetruth…
I don’t care if he supports Romney either, but to actively try to destroy him is beyond the pale and is totally out of line for a fellow Republican in his position to try and take out the Republican front runner this late in the primary cycle.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.
This is EXACTLY the time to have these family arguments. If not now, when?
And then, when the nomination is settled, the party unites to defeat Obama.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
#43 Mark in PENNSYLVANIA! Yes! Yes! Yes! You guys in swing states HAVE to walk thru glass, fire and doggie-doo to vote against Obama. Please, please, plese. You MUST.
But I’m from CA. Unless something really weird happens (not Mitt winning the candidacy) CA will go for Obama. Californians would vote for Satan himself if they could, but Obama will do.
So, unlike you, I have the luxury of voting for whom I choose by writing in. I voted for McCain just to rack up numbers, and in hindsight I believe he would have been a horrible POTUS (a lot better than Obama tho). However, I didn’t have as much antipathy toward Mack as I’m starting to have against Perry.
I’m not too worried though. I don’t see Perry winning the nom. He’s damaged himself…so to speak…as Britt Hume so aptly put it.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
#55 But SoJo, this is more than a “family argument.” It’s an scorched earth assault. You don’t do that to family members–at least in my family. We do pull our punches to some degree or you have no family.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
What “scorched earth assault” did Rush launch against Romney?
September 29th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
58
Vastly over-exaggerating Romney’s mere belief that global warming EXISTS…
September 29th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
SoJo. My issue is not so much that he’s attacking Romney but that he has no credible alternative. It was the same thing as Matt Kibbe and that portion of the Tea Party. OK, if you want to duke it out on behalf of someone who actually can win, fine. But the Freedom Works picked out Romney to slam, but offered no one else.
Rush spent weeks (couldn’t stand it; stopped listening) loving Palin. OK, Palin’s had a bad rap in many cases, but Rush’s gripe was Republicans that were turning from Palin. I’m one of them: loved, loved, loved, her a first. Defended her against the truly raw deal she got from the MSM. But in the end, a bunch of what PALIN herself did soured me on her some.
But Rush wasn’t going to stand for that. Any conservative woman who didn’t love Palin for POTUS was ugly and any man was “weak.”
I used to like Rush because you could get a sound perspective; not so much anymore.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
#58 SoJo. Did you listen to the same Rush show I did this a.m.?
September 29th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
61 – I can’t defend Rush on any of the Palin stuff. She is clearly vapid and not up to the task and his constant defense of her strikes me as odd.
But on the argument over Romney – don’t a good number of Republicans believe that Romney IS like Crist? That he would say or do anything to gain power?
What if Rush genuinely believes that Cain IS a viable alternative?
September 29th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
20.
I should have said he seems more conservative now because he is presenting clear cut plans and seems to be articulating his views in a more understandable fashion. I do not believe he has changed his positions since 2008.
September 29th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
#62 I’m sure RL believes Cain is better but ONLY because he perceives Cain to be “conservative.” Like I said before, Cain is like Obama: no record of governance. It’s easy to be conservative in a vacuum if you’ve never had to govern and no one can pin a record on you. RL also said Perry was “conservative” but Christie is “not conservative.”
I disagree with Rush that (1) ANY conservative would be a better POTUS than any RINO(2) Even Daffy Duck can beat Obama (3) Therefore elect ANY conservative over any RINO.
According to Rush, Palin, Bachmann, Perry, Cain and Santorum are conservatives. Any of them could beat Obama and would be “better than Obama.” Romney, Huntsman and Christie are RINOs and we need to stomp the hell out of them before anybody gets the misguided idea they should vote for them. Electability (or ability) doesn’t matter. The conservatives are all electable and all able.
September 29th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
63.
Answer: Obamacare hadn’t happened in 2008, so no one cared about Romneycare. People are pissed about having Obamacare rammed down our throat and see Romneycare as being similar–and Mitt hasn’t changed his position on his state’s program, which pisses people off.
Plus, Rush has a big contract coming up–his last was $400M/year–and his ratings have been much better since O took office. He has a huge financial stake in O winning a second term. Going for an unelectable like Perry makes a lot of financial sense for Rush/Fox.
September 29th, 2011 at 7:05 pm
Gaw….coming to this site and reading this Romney-love fest is driving me fast towards Perry….please, stop doing that to me.
September 30th, 2011 at 12:47 am
“According to Rush, Palin, Bachmann, Perry, Cain and Santorum are conservatives. Any of them could beat Obama and would be “better than Obama.” Romney, Huntsman and Christie are RINOs and we need to stomp the hell out of them before anybody gets the misguided idea they should vote for them.”
Wow, that Rush is 99% correct as advertised!!!