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Romney Losing Support Among Independents

In his efforts to woo the most conservative members  of the Republican party, Mitt Romney appears to be losing his edge with  independent voters, who are flocking to the GOP’s main opponent —  President Barack Obama.

A Pew Research Poll released Monday  shows 51 percent of independent voters would cast ballots for Obama in a  general election, a substantial gain compared to a month ago, when just  40 percent of independents said they preferred Obama to Romney. In a  general election matchup, Obama leads Romney by eight points.

For Romney, the likely culprit for the slide is public perception.

Pew  reports that the number of voters who trust Romney and view him as an  honest candidate has fallen 12 points in the past month, while the  number of voters who perceive him as untrustworthy has grown  substantially, from 32 percent to 45 percent.

The poll also  shows that voters are concerned about Romney’s business background. In  November, 58 percent of independent voters polled said they believed  Romney was prepared to be president. That number has dipped to 48  percent. [Virginia is for Lovers—and Politicos.]

To make matters worse, Romney’s doesn’t seem to be  appealing to evangelical conservatives. Thirty percent of those polled  prefer Rick Santorum, compared to 28 percent for Romney.

Romney  does better than Santorum against Barack Obama. Santorum trails the  president by 14 points. Newt Gingrich loses by an even wider margin,  with Obama holding a 58 percent to 34 percent margin.

By: Lauren Fox, Washington Whispers, U. S. News and World Report, February 13, 2012

February 14, 2012 - Posted by raemd95 | Election 2012 | Barack Obama, Conservatives, Evangelicals, Independents, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Politics, Republicans, Rick Santorum