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Since our poll last month, Rick Perry's entrance into the race has seriously altered events for both Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann in the latest Daily Caller-ConservativeHome poll.
And Paul Ryan, who said on Monday that he’s not running, has clearly gotten into voters’ heads when it comes to spending and the economy. Just as he removed himself from contention, he was clearly making positive gains among conservative voters (we fielded the poll before Ryan's announcement that he wasn't running).
We should note at the outset that we oversample active Republicans in our polls. That is, nearly 70% of respondents in our poll give either time or money to candidates. So, unlike “likely voter” polls, ours measures more committed Republicans.
First, when asked who voters think is the most electable, here are how the top five fared:
- Rick Perry: 45.6%
- Mitt Romney: 19.8%
- Michele Bachmann: 9.5%
- Paul Ryan: 6.2.%
- Ron Paul: 5.2%
Second, when asked who voters plan to vote for, the top five look like this:
- Rick Perry: 29.3%
- Michele Bachmann: 17%
- Mitt Romney: 11.1%
- Herman Cain: 8.3%
- Tie: Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Paul Ryan: 7.6%
Ryan really kicks into gear when we ask voters about spending and the economy.
When asked, “Which of the following candidates do you think would do the best job on keeping Washington spending under control?” here’s how the top five look:
- Rick Perry: 20.3%
- Paul Ryan: 17.4%
- Michele Bachmann: 16.8%
- Ron Paul: 13.5%
- Herman Cain: 8.7%
- (Mitt Romney, in case you’re wondering, is at 7.6%)
When asked, “Which of the following candidates would do the best job on the economy if elected President in 2012?” here’s how the top five look:
- Rick Perry: 27.1%
- Mitt Romney: 14.1%
- Paul Ryan: 12.4%
- Herman Cain: 10.8%
- Michele Bachmann: 10.5%
When you combine the results for spending and the economy, Paul Ryan finishes in a strong second place behind Rick Perry.
These are fascinating results. Voters clearly think the Perrys and Romneys of the world are far more electable than Paul Ryan, but when it comes to who they think would execute two of the three most important duties of the office of the President (promoting a strong economy and controlling spending, the third being foreign policy), Paul Ryan is second only to Perry.
The poll was conducted August 18-21 with 726 members of the Republican Panel, assembled for ConservativeHome by YouGov.
