Interesting new poll out from Suffolk today on the New Hampshire primary. Romney’s in the lead, no surprise. But he’s waaaaaay in the lead with 41% support. Ron Paul is at 14% and John Huntsman, last seen barreling toward .5% support somewhere, anywhere, is at 10%. Perry is in 4th at 8%.
I’m going to try to pull some more information together later. But while Perry still has big time support and is numerically the frontrunner, there’s abundant evidence that he’s not the most electable person for Republicans to run against Obama. Conservatives who don’t really care for Romney appear happy to vote for him against Obama. The same doesn’t appear to be true for Perry with right-leaning Independents or many Republicans in suburban districts outside of the South.
That has to be good news for Romney as the numbers seem clear enough that they should be able to be used to mobilize some voters, particularly professional Republicans. But Perry isn’t some Pat Buchanan type candidate who you can just shutdown by mobilizing the establishment in a state like South Carolina or really anywhere else. Will be fascinating story to see unfold.
