The Texas governor is the preferred choice of 26 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Sept. 9-12. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney places second at 22 percent, while all of the other Republican candidates get less than 10 percent.Perry is also upside down when it comes to favorability, with only 32% favorable rating and 41% unfavorable (and 25% undecided).
In a hypothetical general election matchup, Perry trails President Barack Obama among the poll’s entire sample, 49 percent to 40 percent, about twice the deficit for Romney. Perry also confronts negative reactions from Americans disinclined to vote for a candidate expressing the skepticism he has about the viability of Social Security, evolution science and whether humans contribute to climate change.
The rest of the field lags far behind Perry and Romney:
Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in the poll, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Representative Ron Paul of Texas and Palin are all bunched together with support between 8 percent and 9 percent. Businessman Herman Cain and Gingrich follow at 4 percent, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum at 2 percent and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. at 1 percent.This is quickly becoming a two-horse race, but the longer candidates like Michele Bachmann stay in and take shots at Perry, the better Romney stands at outlasting him in the Republican primary.