This week, ConservativeHome polled 1,000 conservatives identified by YouGov for our Republican Panel. Those polled were asked for their views of Mitt Romney’s strengths and weaknesses.
Respondents were asked whether or not they agreed with a number of statements about Romney.
The main conclusions in summary:
- Romney’s executive experience plays well with conservatives
- Conservatives still hold the Massachusetts health care experience against him
- He is not yet inspiring confidence in his economic leadership
- He needs to do more to convince voters that he’s the leader the country needs to address today's big issues
- Pundits’ concerns about his flip-flopping and abortion record don’t bother conservative voters too much
Mitt Romney should take a number of important conclusions away from our survey results.
He should play up his executive experience
- 77% say that his business experience would make him a good President
- 70% say he’s a proven leader
- 66% say he’s a problem solver
- 63% say he would be very knowledgeable on all budgetary matters
- 57% say he would be a “really good fundraiser” during the campaign
He still has a lot of work to do to repair his reputation stemming from the Massachusetts health care experience
- 66% say it is “a big problem” for him
He needs to work on inspiring confidence in his economic leadership and his ability to connect to issues on voters’ minds
- Only 36% say he would be the candidate most likely to get the American economy back on track
- 42% say he’s the kind of leader America needs right now, and 36% of respondents said they weren’t sure. Given that 70% say he’s a proven leader (see above), it’s significant that such a smaller percentage think he’s the leader the country needs right now.
- 33% say he doesn’t relate well to the average voter, while another 27% reserve judgment by saying they’re unsure on this point.
- Only 23% say he is more electable than other potential candidates.
Concerns that are overplayed by pundits
- Only 26% say he is a flip-flopper
- Only 22% say his record on abortion bothers them.
- One might argue that these figures are still large enough to give Romney some concern, but they are clearly manageable.
> LAST WEEK THE PANEL JUDGED SARAH PALIN'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
