Poll Watch: PPP (D) 2012 Mississippi Republican Primary Survey

PPP (D) 2012 Mississippi GOP Primary Survey

• Haley Barbour 37%
• Mike Huckabee 19%
• Newt Gingrich 10%
• Sarah Palin 10%
• Mitt Romney 6%
• Michele Bachmann 5%
• Tim Pawlenty 3% 
• Ron Paul 2%
• Someone else/Undecided 9%

If Haley Barbour didn’t run for President and the candidates next year were just Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney who would you vote for?

• Mike Huckabee 35%
• Sarah Palin 20%
• Newt Gingrich 18%
• Mitt Romney 8%
• Michele Bachmann 5%
• Ron Paul 4%
• Tim Pawlenty 3%
• Someone else/Undecided 8%

Among Republicans Who Think Interracial Marriage Should Be Legal

• Mike Huckabee 34%
• Newt Gingrich 17%
• Sarah Palin 12%
• Michele Bachmann 10%
• Mitt Romney 8%
• Ron Paul 5%
• Tim Pawlenty 4%
• Someone else/Undecided 10%

Among Republicans Who Think Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal

• Mike Huckabee 33%
• Sarah Palin 27%
• Newt Gingrich 21%
• Mitt Romney 8%
• Michele Bachmann 2%
• Ron Paul 2%
• Tim Pawlenty 1%
• Someone else/Undecided 6%

Favorable / Unfavorable {Net}

• Mike Huckabee 74% / 13% {+61%}
• Sarah Palin 70% / 21% {+49%}
• Newt Gingrich 58% / 24% {+34%}
• Mitt Romney 48% / 36% {+12%}

Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Haley Barbour’s job performance?

• Approve 85%
• Disapprove 10%

Do you think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal?

• Legal 40%
• Illegal 46%
• Not sure 14%

Among Men

• Legal 36%
• Illegal 52%
• Not sure 12%

Among Women

• Legal 45%
• Illegal 39%
• Not sure 16%

Survey of 400 usual Mississippi Republican primary voters was conducted March 24-27, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 4.9 percentage points.  Political ideology: 40% Very conservative; 36% Somewhat conservative; 17% Moderate; 4% Somewhat liberal; 4% Very liberal.

Inside the numbers:

If Haley Barbour does not run for president, Sarah Palin receives just 12% of the vote from Republicans who think interracial marriage should be legal.  However, among racist Republicans who, in 2011, still think it should be illegal for whites and blacks to marry one another, support for Palin more than doubles to 27 percent.

Palin's net favorability with folks who think interracial marriage should be illegal (+55 at 74/19) is 17 points higher than it is with folks who think interracial marriage should be legal (+38 at 64/26.) Meanwhile Romney's favorability numbers see the opposite trend. He's at +23 (53/30) with voters who think interracial marriage should be legal but 19 points worse at +4 (44/40) with those who think it should be illegal.