On expectations in a race against Obama, 30 percent say Perry is the one with the best chance of winning the general election. Twenty percent said Romney, a drop of 12 points since mid-July.
Still, the top two Republican candidates are at rough parity in how they match up against Obama. Among registered voters, Romney edges the president, 49 to 45 percent. Perry is in a similarly competitive position, at 47 percent to Obama’s 46 percent.
During a campaign stop in Beford, N.H., on Sunday, GOP candidate Jon Huntsman said Presidents Obama and Bill Clinton both had low poll numbers at this point in their campaigns. (Sept. 6)
2012 positioning: Perry breaks out in GOP race
On the question of who is most capable of dealing with the economy, the nation’s top issue, Perry and Romney are tied, meaning that the Texas governor has neutralized a key Romney calling card.
Both candidates see their economic record as their strongest attribute. Perry has presented himself as the one with the best record on job creation, while Romney has offered himself as a business executive better equipped than career politicians such as Perry to turn around the economy.
Perry’s rise — he was in the single digits in the previous poll — has been fueled by rapidly growing support among conservative Republicans. Fully 43 percent of those who consider themselves “very conservative” support Perry; 14 percent back Romney.
Perry has a nearly 20-point edge over Romney among all conservatives, but Romney has a better than 2 to 1 advantage over Perry among moderate and liberal Republicans. A potential problem for Romney is that conservative Republicans make up a large proportion of the party.
Paul scores 13 percent among GOP-leaning independents but only 5 percent among rank-and-file Republicans — underscoring a major problem he will face in the primaries.
A Perry vs. Romney matchup is replete with examples of divisions within the party. Perry holds the advantage among men; Romney is more competitive among women. Perry has deeper support among those with household incomes under $75,000; Romney edges up among higher-income Republicans.
Romney runs even or better with Perry among those under age 50, while Perry holds the lead among those over 50. Perry runs 2 to 1 over Romney in the South. In the rest of the country, Romney is ahead, but by a significantly smaller margin.
Compounding the issues for Romney in the new poll is that fewer of his supporters now back him “strongly.” In July, 29 percent of Romney supporters were strongly behind him; now that has slipped to 15 percent. Perry does better here, but not well: 37 percent of the Texan’s voters are solidly behind him.
Following Perry’s entry, more Republicans say they are satisfied with their candidate choices. In the spring, fewer than half of Republicans said they were satisfied. That jumped up in July, and in the new poll, nearly two-thirds say they are at least somewhat satisfied.
Polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Scott Clement contributed to this report.
Obama’s base grows disenchanted
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