A new national poll of the Republican primary race from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal will be out on Tuesday evening. They teased a portion of the results in the afternoon: the survey will show that only 21 percent of the GOP electorate describes their field of presidential candidates as “strong,” while 27 percent think it’s weak and 51 percent see it as average.
Hardly a rip-roaring battle cry for the party trying to take back the White House, but not a complete shock either. Conservative Republicans have moved from candidate to candidate in an attempt to find someone besides former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, and the oscillation seems to show no one potential nominee can fully captivate the party faithful.
Some other surveys have shown an enthusiasm gap between the GOP and Democrats, namely Tuesday morning’s Gallup swing state poll. But the new numbers from NBC/WSJ and the Gallup survey show the clear difference between Republicans desperately wanting someone to beat President Obama and actually finding that person.
