GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
The Gallup Poll: Public Confidence in Presidential Hopefuls on Key 2008 Election Issues
Trust in candidates to handle the war in Iraq
- Rudy Giuliani 55%
- John McCain 55%
- Barack Obama 54%
- Hillary Clinton 51%
- John Edwards 50%
- Fred Thompson 39%
- Mitt Romney 37%
Among Republicans only, Giuliani topped this list at 75%, followed by McCain at 67%, Thompson with 57% and Romney, 49%.
Trust in candidates to handle terrorism
- Rudy Giuliani 69%
- John McCain 66%
- Hillary Clinton 55%
- Barack Obama 53%
- John Edwards 48%
- Fred Thompson 42%
- Mitt Romney 38%
Among Republicans only, Giuliani topped this list at 83%, followed by McCain at 76%, Thompson with 59% and Romney, 51%.
Trust in candidates to handle the healthcare system
- Hillary Clinton 65%
- Barack Obama 61%
- John Edwards 54%
- Rudy Giuliani 52%
- John McCain 45%
- Mitt Romney 36%
- Fred Thompson 35%
Among Republicans only, Giuliani topped this list at 71%, followed by McCain at 58%, Thompson with 52% and Romney, 45%.
Trust in candidates to handle the economy
- Barack Obama 62%
- Hillary Clinton 61%
- Rudy Giuliani 60%
- John McCain 53%
- John Edwards 51%
- Mitt Romney 40%
- Fred Thompson 39%
Among Republicans only, Giuliani topped this list at 79%, followed by McCain at 66%, Thompson with 57% and Romney, 53%.
Survey of 1,011 American adults was conducted July 23-26. The percentages reflect a combination of those who responded by saying a “great deal” or “fair amount.” The maximum margin of sampling error is ?4 percentage points.
July 31st, 2007 at 5:40 pm
And this is based on what? Perception and name-recognition. Seriously, please point out to me why Obama, Clinton, Giuliani, McCain, or Edwards could do better than Mitt Romney at “handling the economy” or “handle the healthcare system”!! The healthcare system is one of the largest bureaucratic organizations in the world with billions and billions in budget. Other than Giuliani, who has had any experience at all at managing a large complex organization with effective management and executive skill? That’s right, Mitt Romney. Not only that, but he spent a lot of time studying this issue as governor. How many people actually recognize that? It’s maddening to think we want to put people in charge of something like “the economy” or the government healthcare system that haven’t even ever run a corner store. How can we trust that they know how to manage budgets, people, efficiency, delegation, etc.?
Mitt’s got a huge perception problem. He should be in the top one or two most trusted on at least those two issues, and so should Giuliani, because those two actually have management experience. What is the problem here? Why isn’t Mitt’s message getting out?
July 31st, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I like polls like this and I think that even though it is early these polls are telling about relative strengths of the candidates. The only thing I don’t like about the poll is that is was conducted among “adults” and not “registered voters” or, even better, “likely voters.”
Pretty good news for my candidate!
July 31st, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I’m surprised Romney did as poorly on health care, given that he is the only candidate running who has successfully implemented a major health care plan.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:26 pm
These polls do show that perception matters. People vote onb how they feel and think.
If more people trust Rudy on Iraq than Hillary and Mitt is way behind, it doesn’t really matter what the facts are.
The GOP is not going to win an election where people trust the dem by 14 pts on Iraq, 17 pts on terrorism, 30 pts on health care and 20 pts on the economy.
Again, when looking at Hillary you have to remember it’s not just her, it’s also Bill.
Given that Bill won 2 elections, is loved by democrats and liked by independents and moderates, had a good economic record and there were no wars or iraq like problems during his term, it’s not hard to see why Hillary gets the numbers she does. She’s basically running as a surrogate for Bill.
The amazing this is that Rudy and McCain still beat her on Iraq, Rudy is tied on the economy and Rudy and both Rudy and McCain crush her on terrorism.
It shows tha tif the surge continues and shows improvement and Iraq looks better as we head into next year and the campaign season, and Bush continues to be aggressive on terror and perhaps takes action against AQ in Pakistan or against Iran’s nukes, Rudy has a very good shot at winning.
Right now, the facts is that Mit tdoes not. That could change, but it’s just how it is right now.
Now, there’s plenty of conservatives and Republicans who’d be fine with thta.
They’d rather lose, let Hillary take power and mess things up and come back in 2012 with a new conservative leader who will reclaim glory.
The last time that happened we ended up with Bob Dole in 1996 and 8 years of Clinton.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:56 pm
“If more people trust Rudy on Iraq than Hillary and Mitt is way behind, it doesn’t really matter what the facts are.”
Heaven forbid we let facts get in the way of choosing our presidential candidate!
July 31st, 2007 at 6:57 pm
and your alternative is?
I’m sorry, but I have little respect for people who care more about picking a person who can win than picking a person who actually represents the positions of the GOP. THAT INCLUDES SOCIAL ISSUES.
July 31st, 2007 at 7:01 pm
“If more people trust Rudy on Iraq than Hillary and Mitt is way behind, it doesn’t really matter what the facts are.�
What! No wonder the polls are messed up! People need to actually
look at the facts and not the celebrity status! I’m sure glad that Iowa and New Hampshire
have gotten past that immaturity issue that most of the nation has right now!
July 31st, 2007 at 7:26 pm
or so we thought - we are going to have to see what the next polls bring - those ARG results that came out this morning were deffinately strange.
July 31st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Im not saying that’s a good thing but it;s the truth.
Do you think the majority or even a small amount of voters can tell you the details of a candidate’s tax plan? Do you think most people knew the differences between Bush and Gore on Social Security?
Do you think people will be able to debate Hillary’s withdrawal plan or her health care plan vs Mitt’s Partnership for Prosperity or Rudy’s policies?
No
There’s a book out right now that explains all this. Most voters are stupid. Most can;t name who the VP is or who the Senate majority leader is. More people can ID a photo of Joridn Sparks than Nancy Pelosi and more can name Simon, Randy and Paula as the Judges on American Idol than can name even 1 Justice on the SC.
So, while all the MItt fans can bemoan thahat his numbers here are dismal and that in a similar poll all of 5% of Republicans and @% of everyone trusts him the most on nat’l security, I prefer to deal with reality.
His huge deficits in these areas are real problems that he will have to overcome. Wishing it away or bemoaning it won’t change that.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Name recognition does affect Romney and Thompson’s poor showing, but not to an extent that renders the poll necessarily unreliable. On Iraq, Romney and Thompson are being judged as a “generic Republican” (ie: W Part II)
while Rudy and McCain have managed to distinguish themselves from Bush on this issue. Ditto for terrorism (where Rudy and McCain enjoy a huge advantage over the other Democratic nominees, but Romney and Thompson don’t). Maybe when their name recognition improves they will be defined as their own men on terrorism and Iraq (in which case their numbers on these issues will improve), but maybe they won’t. And if they aren’t, they will lose.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Oh, it looks like everyone has realized that Romney can’t keep America safe from terrorists since he did a terrible job with security of the February 2002 olympic games. Did you hear about all of those terrorist attacks?
no, seriously, Guiliani and Romney both deserve credit for post 9/11 (note year 2001) leadership when it comes to terrorism and security - no other candidate deserves that kind of honor - not even senators that know how to talk and vote. My advice to everyone is - get educated about Romney.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:59 pm
hey jim,
who is the candidate that you are leaning to? Were you being serious about that Clinton and Mitt Romney trust thing, or were you being sarcastic?
July 31st, 2007 at 9:10 pm
These numbers seem to indicate that McCain actually has a lot of support amongst Republicans. One would think he’d be polling a consistent 2nd, instead of tied for third. I’m assuming that most of the republicans who trusted him on these various issues tended to support Guiliani (b/c of 9/11 and immigration I’m assuming).
July 31st, 2007 at 10:44 pm
This is mainly a name recognition exercise. Its not credible: Mitt’s numbers should be much better re the economy (no one disputes he has a good economic record as CEO & Governor). Obama’s leading at 62% undermines the credibility even more!
August 1st, 2007 at 12:10 am
I’m just throwing this out there so don’t slaughter me here, but does anyone still think McCain could still win this thing, especially if Thompson fails to get in or crashes shortly thereafter? These numbers would indicate that McCain still has potential in a general election. And I’ve also noticed that his poll numbers in general, while they have fallen, haven’t fallen out of the first tier in most cases. Just a thought.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:11 am
If you go to Gallup and look at the break-outs, you find something that I find rather odd.
I like Obama, so I am not complaining, but on the Iraq question, and the terrorism question Republicans have almost twice as much confidence in Obama than in Hillary (granted, low in both cases, but 15 to 28 or something like that).
Isn’t that odd? Independents had Hillary ahead of Obama on those questions, and, if memory serves right, so did Dems. While Republicans obviously dont trust either, but one would think there would be a preference for Hillary, given the experience question, and her actual positions.
Is this just pure Hillary Derangement Syndrome?
August 1st, 2007 at 1:02 am
Tano,
Hillary is to the right of Obama on most issues, but Hillary is also a hated figure.
That explains why Hillary’s numbers are so bad with Republicans. Its not an ideological disagreement, its straight out antipathy to her, period.
August 1st, 2007 at 8:24 am
Wow those numbers on health care and the economy are not good. This administration and current batch of GOP leaders have done a horrible job of promoting the economy and their free market policies on health care. John Stossel had a good article this morning on the economic illiterate in America. I would love to see economics be a requirement for high school graduates, but then again when you can’t read right thats kinda hard. More than anything Republicans need a leader who is willing to educate the American public on economic policy and that will be no easy task.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:14 pm
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