Another poll finds that Mitt Romney’s net favorability rating continues to tank at a remarkable rate. From Public Policy Polling’s new survey of North Carolina:
The Republican nomination process has taken a huge toll on Romney’s image in North Carolina. In February of 2011 voters in the state were almost evenly divided on him with 37% rating him favorably to 39% who had a negative opinion of him. Now that spread is a dreadful 29/58. His numbers with GOP voters are about where they’ve been, but he’s seen a considerable drop in his appeal to Democrats and independents.
He was actually popular with independents at 45/36 last winter, now he is incredibly unpopular at 25/62. And what was once a decent amount of crossover appeal to Democrats with 23% seeing him favorably to 52% with a negative opinion is now a 12/77 spread. Romney may see some improvement in his numbers as conservative leaning voters start to unify around him, but for now they’re pretty dreadful.
This is not an outlier. Most polls have found Romney’s favorablity rating has been collapsing over the past few months. Pew Research’s national poll last month found that 51% hold an unfavorable view of him. Romney currently holds the worst favorability rating of any major candidate in decades.
Similarly a new Washington Post/ABC News found that by a 64 to 26 percent margin voters say Obama is a friendly and more likable human being than Romney.
It is likely that this general election is going to be a very negative campaign with both sides trying to tear down the other party’s presidential candidate. This task, though, is going to be significantly easier for the Democrats. Romney is already so unlikable that the Obama team doesn’t need to bring his favorable numbers any lower; they need only keep them in their currently horrible state.



18 Comments
Whereas so far the Romney campaign has succeeded by attacking his opponents, outspending them by large multiples. As far as likeability goes, Obama is a known quantity and Romney is unlikely to change that. The Republicans have been slinging mud non-stop for four years and Obama’s numbers are where they are. It’s hard to see where Romney could go beyond socialist-fascist-muslim-born-in-Kenya-anti-Christ. Once you hit anti-Christ you’ve pretty much shot your wad, as they say. I’m sure they’ll think of something. And even counting SuperPAC money, I doubt Romney will be able to outspend Obama by 2:1, if that much.
Romney’s personal numbers are bad because he is a big jerk and a terrible campaigner and his staff are a bunch of clueless morons. Say what you like about Obama, he is a great campaigner with a solid organization.
Obama’s numbers will ultimately depend on things like the economy, or military action in the Persian Gulf pushing oil to $200, or something else substantial that Romney can’t influence (but could take advantage of). So far Romney has won primaries in places without electoral votes like Guam, or in places where Obama is going to win anyway, like Illinois. He has been particularly weak in Republican strongholds. How is he going to pull votes away from Obama if he has to spend time and money campaigning in Georgia and Arizona?
Mitt doesn’t care. His rich friends like him just fine, and no one else exits for him.
He thinks he can win just by spending a lot of money on (mostly negative) ads. I wonder how long it’s going to take him to realize that’s wrong.
How did this guy ever get to be gov of MA? His opponent must be a real jerk.
He’s also hoping a bad economy will do for him what it did for Barry.
GWB was hardly loveable yet he served 2 terms as POTUS. Never underestimate the intelligence of the electorate.
Why is everyone surprised that these clowns are elected over and over again? The U.S. has the most ill-informed, misinformed, ignorant, and least class conscious electorate of any advanced industrialized nation. It should be no surprised that these fools are “elected.”
Dya think he knows the economy isn’t good? His economy is just fine.
I wondered on a thread awhile ago why his campaign manager didn’t train Mitt’s mouth better, he comes out with so many bloopers. But then his campaign manager came out with a zinger. Damned if I can remember what it was, but it also showed the same detachment from voters’ reality.
That’s irrelevant unless you think the 99ers are the stupidest on earth everywhere. Look at how hard the 99ers in Greece rallied against austerity by their lefty leader and they got it anyway. Ditto Spain.
Only in the U.S..
Etch a sketch
The 1%ers are alike all over teh globe. They have all the power & all the money & know how to manipulate the rest. Nothing unique or stupid about the 99ers in the U.S.
At the end of the day, what does it matter? Who’s your daddy?
Rmoney v. Dmoney.
Pick your poison. The end result is the same, no matter what.
US voters/citizens, no matter what their affiliation, tend to be authoritarians. It’s not just conservatives, either. So-called “liberal” voters are exactly the same. And doesn’t the 1% know it, love it & manipulate it??
So we have 2 rich guys purported “duking it out” and somehow demonstrating the teensy tinsy sliver of alleged “difference” between them? Eff me, I think I might as well go take a hike.
OK, so Mitt is a rich robot. Is that worse than being a cynical, manipulative, treacherous, callous, lying dickhead? Like the Democratic candidate?
You know, Mitt is just ‘out there’. Hi. I’m Mitt. I’m rich. My wife is rich. My kids and all my friends are rich. When I’m president, we’re all gonna be richer. I’m gonna make us all richer in quiet rooms, where you’re s’posed to make rich people richer, you know?
And then on the other side, there’s O. ‘I’m gonna fight hard to see that Warren Buffet pays more taxes and I’m gonna cut your medicare, end social security and make the world even safer for securities fraud. But I’m gonna run my mouth in an uplifting sounding way and you are gonna fall for it because you are dopes. When I get outta here I’m gonna make a bundle and you’re gonna be permanently screwed. Hah. Hah.’
Vote for Jill Stein. Whoever the hell she is.
Etch a sketch sorta; this guy’s got an eraser but no knobs or plotter. Tabula rasa only takes you so far. Funny because over most of my lifetime the (conventionally) better looking candidate has won every election and–granted–Romney may or may not be better-looking than Obama but he looks more like he’s made out of chiseled granite. May not help him.
I think that the ill-defined class resentment of the American people enables Obama to use us one more time and cinch the win. It’ll be close, though. With two candidates hewing toward the center it almost always is. We’ll all have to run a six-month gauntlet of race-hate and vituperation to get there.
Romney the nominee to flank his brutal foes
Out on a limb broke his electoral hopes
Despite a media makeover
And a dung heap rakeover
In the end, he only got Mormon votes
Is there any truth to the rumor that Romney’s mother has signed on as an Obama precinct captain?
It’s revolting that such a blatantly disingenuous heartless creep has a shot at the Presidency. Oh, and Romney sucks too.
:)
LOL!