Poll Watch: NBC News/Wall Street Journal 2012 Presidential Survey

NBC News/Wall Street Journal 2012 Presidential Survey

2012 Republican Nomination

1st Choice

• Mike Huckabee 25% (18%)
• Mitt Romney 21% (19%)
• Newt Gingrich 13% (10%)
• Sarah Palin 12% (14%)
• Ron Paul 6% (8%)
• Mitch Daniels 3% (3%)
• Tim Pawlenty 3% (5%)
• Rick Santorum 2% (3%)
• Jon Huntsman 1%
• Haley Barbour 0% (2%)
• Other (VOL) 2% (2%)
• None (VOL) 4% (6%)
• Not sure 8% (8%)

2nd Choice

• Mitt Romney 16% (15%)
• Sarah Palin 14% (12%)
• Mike Huckabee 13% (16%)
• Tim Pawlenty 8% (3%)
• Newt Gingrich 8% (9%)
• Ron Paul 6% (8%)
• Rick Santorum 4% (2%)
• Haley Barbour 3% (2%)
• Mitch Daniels 2% (2%)
• Jon Huntsman 2%
• Other (VOL) 0% (1%)
• None (VOL) 3% (4%)
• Not sure 9% (7%)

Combined Choice

• Mike Huckabee 38% (34%)
• Mitt Romney 37% (34%)
• Sarah Palin 26% (26%)
• Newt Gingrich 21% (19%)
• Ron Paul 12% (16%)
• Tim Pawlenty 11% (8%)
• Rick Santorum 6% (5%)
• Mitch Daniels 5% (5%)
• Jon Huntsman 3%
• Haley Barbour 3% (4%)
• Other (VOL) 2% (3%)
• None (VOL) 7% (10%)
• Not sure 17% (15%)

2012 Presidential Election

• Barack Obama 49% [47%]
• Mitt Romney 40% [40%]

• Barack Obama 50%
• Tim Pawlenty 31%

I'm going to read you the names of several public figures, and I'd like you to rate your feelings toward each one as very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative.

Barack Obama

• Very positive 28% (29%) [25%]
• Somewhat positive 21% (23%) [23%]
• Neutral 15% (15%) [14%]
• Somewhat negative 15% (14%) [14%]
• Very negative 20% (18%) [24%]

Mitt Romney

• Very positive 6% [10%]
• Somewhat positive 19% [18%]
• Neutral 30% [30%]
• Somewhat negative 13% [10%]
• Very negative 12% [10%]

Tim Pawlenty

• Very positive 3%
• Somewhat positive 7%
• Neutral 20%
• Somewhat negative 6%
• Very negative 3%
• Don't know name/Not sure 61%

Donald Trump

• Very positive 9%
• Somewhat positive 17%
• Neutral 40%
• Somewhat negative 18%
• Very negative 11%

Survey of 1,000 adults (87% of whom are registered to vote), including a subsample of 282 Republican primary voters, was conducted February 24-28, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points among adults. Party ID breakdown: Strong Democrat 17% (20%); Not very strong Democrat 12% (11%); Independent/lean Democrat 10% (10%); Strictly Independent 19% (18%); Independent/lean Republican 12% (11%); Not very strong Republican 9% (9%); Strong Republican 13% (12%). Political ideology: Very liberal 8% (7%); Somewhat liberal 16% (15%); Moderate 38% (41%); Somewhat conservative 21% (20%); Very conservative 15% (14%).  Results from the poll conducted January 13-17, 2011 are in parentheses. Results from the poll conducted December 9-13, 2010 are in square brackets.

Inside the numbers:

Among Tea Party backers, 27 percent said Gov. Mike Huckabee would be their first choice among Republican candidates, with an additional 15 percent calling Huckabee their second choice.

Presumed presidential candidate Mitt Romney fares less well among Tea Party types, with 14 percent calling the former Massachusetts governor their top choice for the nomination. (It’s worth noting that the same share of Tea Party supporters named former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – who enjoys broad support among conservatives but not always the perception of strong viability as a candidate – as their top choice.) Romney and Palin were the second choice of 17 percent and 19 percent of Tea Party fans, respectively. 

Romney was the top choice among GOP primary voters who say they are NOT Tea Party supporters, with 32 percent of those voters saying he’s their preferred nominee. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was the top choice of 19 percent of Tea Party backers, with another 8 percent calling him their second choice. 

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who recently delivered the keynote speech at a meeting of the Tea Party Patriots and released a web video praising the movement, was the first or second choice of a combined 15 percent of Tea Party supporters.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy