Poll Watch: Winthrop University South Carolina 2012 Republican Primary Survey

Winthrop University South Carolina 2012 Republican Primary Survey

• Mike Huckabee 17.8%
• Mitt Romney 16.1%
• Donald Trump 9.9%
• Sarah Palin 8.6%
• Newt Gingrich 8.1%
• Chris Christie 6.2%
• Michele Bachmann 3.8%
• Ron Paul 2.5%
• Herman Cain 1.7%
• Tim Pawlenty 1.7%
• Haley Barbour 1.5%
• Rick Santorum 1.4%
• Jon Huntsman 0.8%
• Mitch Daniels 0.6%
• Gary Johnson 0.0%
• Other 1.0%
• Not Sure 16.9%

Regardless of who you currently support, who do you think the eventual 2012 Republican presidential nominee will be?

• Mitt Romney 21.4%
• Mike Huckabee 8.3%
• Donald Trump 7.3%
• Newt Gingrich 4.9%
• Sarah Palin 4.1%
• Michele Bachmann 1.0%
• Tim Pawlenty 1.0%
• Chris Christie 0.7%
• Ron Paul 0.6%
• Rick Santorum 0.2%
• Jon Huntsman 0.2%
• Mitch Daniels 0.1%
• Haley Barbour 0.1%
• Herman Cain 0.0%
• Gary Johnson 0.0%
• Other 0.9%
• Not Sure 47.4%

Favorable / Unfavorable {Net}

• Mike Huckabee 59.0% / 11.1% {+47.9%}
• Mitt Romney 53.6% / 16.5% {+37.1%}
• Michele Bachmann 28.3% / 5.0% {+23.3%}
• Newt Gingrich 45.4% / 23.1% {+22.3%}
• Sarah Palin 47.9% / 32.3% {+15.6%}
• Tim Pawlenty 16.6% / 3.9% {+12.7%}
• Haley Barbour 18.1% / 8.1% {+10.0%}
• Rick Santorum 17.6% / 8.0% {+9.6%}

Haven't Heard Enough About This Person to Have an Opinion

• Tim Pawlenty 66.0%
• Rick Santorum 62.9%
• Haley Barbour 60.5%
• Michele Bachmann 51.3%
• Newt Gingrich 17.2%
• Mike Huckabee 16.3%
• Mitt Romney 15.6%
• Sarah Palin 7.6%

Which of the following comes closest to your beliefs:

It is more important to select a Republican presidential nominee who can beat Barack Obama in 2012 – OR – It is more important to select a Republican presidential nominee who matches my beliefs.

• Nominee who matches my beliefs 56.0%
• Nominee who can beat Obama 32.4%
• Both (vol.) 7.7%

Would you be willing to have your current Social Security or Medicare benefits reduced in order to address national budget concerns? (among those currently receiving Social Security or Medicare)

• Yes 23.3%
• No 69.0%

Would you be willing to have your future Social Security or Medicare benefits reduced in order to address national budget concerns? (among those not currently receiving Social Security or Medicare)

• Yes 42.2%
• No 48.3%

Would you be willing to have the retirement age at which you can receive full Social Security or Medicare benefits raised to 70 years old in order to address national budget concerns? (among those not currently receiving Social Security or Medicare)

• Yes 47.1%
• No 46.0%

Would you consider yourself a member of the Tea Party Movement?

• Yes 28.6%
• No 64.0%

Regardless of whether you consider yourself a member of the Tea Party movement or not, would you say that you generally agree with the principles of the Tea Party movement or generally disagree with the principles of the Tea Party movement?

• Agree 74.0%
• Disagree 7.8%
• Neither (vol.) 7.5%

Survey of 589 registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was conducted April 17-23, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 4.04 percentage points.