Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) will make his first appearance in Gallup’s 2012 presidential polling with strong numbers indicative of a campaign with room to compete at the top of the field, according to Gallup Editor In Chief Frank Newport.
When the numbers are released at 1 PM, Perry will be tied with Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s 21% positive intensity rating, which measures the feelings voters who know about a candidate have about him or her. Bachmann is near the top of the pack in the rating, which is new in Gallup’s presidential dataset this year. Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain has led the poll in the past with a 23% positive intensity score.
Perry will debut in Gallup polling with a 55% name ID among Republicans, which is considerably higher than Cain, who Newport says has struggled to raise his name ID even as those who know him continue to have strong positive feelings about his campaign.
Newport said that Perry’s numbers look pretty strong even against frontrunner Mitt Romney.
“He has a name ID to make up,” Newport said. “And that’s one reason why, when you look at trial heat polls, Perry — even when [pollsters] include him — may still not be up there with Romney, because he has a 30-point name ID deficit with Romney.”
“But if you separate out only people who know Perry and only people who know Romney, Perry’s people actually feel stronger about him than do Romney’s,” Newport said.
At a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor this morning, Newport previewed the first voter intensity survey from the organization to feature Perry, who’s strongly hinted he’s about to be the latest contender to jump into the widening presidential field.
