http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/27/poll-suggests-romney-on-top-in-iowa-if-he-runs-again/?hpt=hp_t2
Poll suggests Romney on top in Iowa if he runs againQuote
He keeps saying no to third run for the White House, but another new poll – this time in Iowa – indicates Mitt Romney would be the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination if he changes his mind.
A USA Today/Suffolk University survey of Iowa voters released Wednesday should add to the feeding frenzy over a possible 2016 presidential bid by the 2012 GOP nominee. While the former Massachusetts governor's repeatedly said he's not running again, the attention such speculation captures is a sign of the wide open nature right now of the upcoming Republican nomination race.
According to the new poll, if Romney was added to the list of potential 2016 GOP White House contenders, 35% of Iowa Republicans say he'd be their first choice in the Iowa caucuses, which kick off the presidential primary and caucus calendar.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses and is considering another bid in 2016, is a distant second, at 9%. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who narrowly won the 2012 caucuses, are each at 6%. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are each at 5%, with the remaining potential candidates tested were all in the lower single digits.
Take Romney out of the equation, and the poll indicates Huckabee – at 13% is on top of the crowded list of potential candidates. He's followed by Christie at 11%, Perry at 9% Paul at 7%, Santorum and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, each at 6% and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 5%. The remaining potential candidates tested were all in the lower single digits.
The poll's 2016 GOP nomination results not only reflect the wide open race among the Republicans but are most likely also a reflection of name recognition.
"Think about it – we're still closer to the last presidential election than the next one. So until some of these other potential candidates have more time to really begin campaigning in earnest, I think Romney will continue to be top of mind for a lot of average voters," longtime South Carolina GOP consultant Joel Sawyer, senior VP of the Republican digital firm Push Digital, recently told CNN.
Romney keeps saying no
The poll's release comes one day after Romney said in a radio interview that "someone else stands a better chance of winning than I do."
"Had that not been the case," Romney told radio host Hugh Hewitt, "then I would be running."
You know what, if this man ran for POTUS again I think I would vote for him. He has an impeccable personal character, he seems to really have vision, he has a keen eye for business, he was right on foreign policy even though pundits laughed at him for comments about Russia, he isn't too radically socially conservative and isn't likely to subvert the Constitution for ideology, and if he runs again (he keeps saying no) than he is probably the most tenacious man in the United States.
I voted for Obama while pinching my nose, I could have easily done the same for Romney. I've been a fan of his for many years, as strange as that may sound to my friends who know me here, but he does seem like he has the potential to be a Great Man in History. I believe he would govern from a platform of compassionate conservatism with brains.