Mitt Romney's support among Republicans is lower than President Obama's job approval rating
among all Americans (Photo credits: Reuters and White House)
Here's President Obama's approval rating according to
the latest Gallup poll (conducted April 1-5 among national adults with MoE of ±3%):
President Obama job approval:
Approve: 50
Disapprove: 43
And here's Mitt Romney's support in
the Gallup tracking poll of the Republican primary (conducted April 1-5 among Republican voters with MoE of ±2.8%):
Republican primary:
Romney: 41
Santorum: 25
Paul: 12
Gingrich: 9
The good news for Mitt Romney is that everybody agrees he's got the Republican nomination completely locked down. The bad news is that 59 percent of Republican primary voters aren't sold on him yet—and at the same time, President Obama's job approval rating is at 50.
Romney's level of support in his own party is amazingly weak. In May of 2008, before Barack Obama had officially locked down the nomination but after it had become clear he would win it, he was at or above 50 percent for most of the month. In March, before John McCain had officially taken the nomination but after it was clear he would win it, he led Mike Huckabee by 43 points, 63 percent to 20 percent. And in 2004, John Kerry was at 65 percent by Feb. 17.
And yet now, even though he's all but been crowned nominee, Mitt Romney is stuck at 41 percent. And the guy he'll be facing in November is not only far more likable, but enjoys solid approval ratings as we continue to recover from the disastrous Bush presidency. Can you say sacrificial lamb?