Poll Watch: NBC News/Marist Virginia 2012 Presidential Survey

NBC News/Marist Virginia 2012 Presidential Poll

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

• Mitt Romney 69%
• Ron Paul 26%
• Undecided 6%

Please tell me if you would find each of the following candidates acceptable, acceptable but with reservations, or not acceptable as the Republican nominee for president:

Mitt Romney

• Acceptable 58%
• Acceptable but with reservations 29%
• Not acceptable 11%

Rick Santorum

• Acceptable 49%
• Acceptable but with reservations 27%
• Not acceptable 20%

Newt Gingrich

• Acceptable 35%
• Acceptable but with reservations 31%
• Not acceptable 32%

Ron Paul

• Acceptable 29%
• Acceptable but with reservations 29%
• Not acceptable 40%

Are you currently satisfied with the Republican candidates who are running for president or would you like to see someone else run?

• Satisfied 47%
• Would like to see someone else run 50%

Which one of the following candidates do you consider to be the true conservative?

• Rick Santorum 36%
• Newt Gingrich 19%
• Ron Paul 17%
• Mitt Romney 14%
• None 4%
• Undecided 9%

Which one of the following candidates do you think has the best chance to beat President Obama?

• Mitt Romney 65%
• Rick Santorum 14%
• Newt Gingrich 9%
• Ron Paul 4%
• None 3%
• Undecided 5%

Which is more important to you:

• The Republican nominee for president is a true conservative 34%
• The Republican nominee for president has the best chance to beat President Obama 60%

Which one of the following candidates best understands the problems of people like yourself?

• Rick Santorum 26%
• Mitt Romney 25%
• Ron Paul 20%
• Newt Gingrich 15%
• None 7%
• Undecided 7%

Regardless of whom you support, who do you think will be the Republican nominee to run against President Obama?

• Mitt Romney 78%
• Rick Santorum 9%
• Newt Gingrich 5%
• Ron Paul 3%
• None of the above 1%
• Undecided 5%

GENERAL ELECTION

• Barack Obama 52%
• Mitt Romney 35%

• Barack Obama 53%
• Ron Paul 32%

• Barack Obama 54%
• Rick Santorum 32%

• Barack Obama 57%
• Newt Gingrich 31%

Survey of 2,518 registered voters, including a subsample of 529 likely Republican primary voters, was conducted February 29 - March 2, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 2.0 percentage points among all registered voters; +/- 4.3 percentage points among likely GOP primary voters.