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

NBC/WSJ 2012 Presidential Poll

REPUBLICAN NOMINATION

• Herman Cain 27% [5%] {5%} (12%)
• Mitt Romney 23% [23%] {30%} (30%) [21%] {21%} (19%)
• Rick Perry 16% [38%] {11%} (8%)
• Ron Paul 11% [9%] {9%} (7%)
• Newt Gingrich 8% [5%] {8%} (6%) [11%] {13%} (10%)
• Michele Bachmann 5% [8%] {16%} (3%) [5%]
• Jon Huntsman 3% [2%] {2%] (1%)
• Rick Santorum 1% [3%] {3%} (4%) [3%] {2%} (3%) 

Second Choice

• Mitt Romney 21% [18%] {19%}
• Herman Cain 18% [10%] {8%}
• Newt Gingrich 13% [9%] {6%}
• Rick Perry 12% [19%] {9%}
• Michele Bachmann 10% [17%] {15%}
• Ron Paul 6% [5%] {9%} 
• Jon Huntsman 5% [2%] {3%}
• Rick Santorum 3% [4%] {3%}

Now, if you were voting today in the 2012 Republican primary for president, and the candidates were Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, which one would you favor?

• Mitt Romney 54%
• Rick Perry 39%

Positive / Negative {Net}

• Herman Cain 52% / 6% {+46%}
• Mitt Romney 51% [46%] [51%] / 16% [17%] [13%] {+35%}
• Newt Gingrich 49% [32%] [50%] / 23% [34%] [13%] {+26%}
• Rick Perry 43% [47%] [29%] / 23% [12%] [5%] {+20%}
• Rick Santorum 26% / 11% {+15%}
• Michele Bachmann 36% [45%] [23%] / 27% [18%] [8%] {+9%}
• Ron Paul 31% / 26% {+5%}
• Jon Huntsman 15% [8%] / 12% [6%] {+3%}

If _________________ were selected as the Republican nominee, would you vote for this person with enthusiasm, with some reservations, only based on who the opponent was, or not vote for that person?

Herman Cain

• Vote with enthusiasm 45%
• Vote with some reservations 27%
• Vote only based on opponent 11%
• Would not vote for that person 10%

Mitt Romney

• Vote with enthusiasm 39%
• Vote with some reservations 40%
• Vote only based on opponent 11%
• Would not vote for that person 8%

Rick Perry

• Vote with enthusiasm 35%
• Vote with some reservations 39%
• Vote only based on opponent 10%
• Would not vote for that person 13%

Michele Bachmann

• Vote with enthusiasm 23%
• Vote with some reservations 36%
• Vote only based on opponent 14%
• Would not vote for that person 22%

Ron Paul

• Vote with enthusiasm 19%
• Vote with some reservations 37%
• Vote only based on opponent 18%
• Would not vote for that person 21%

GENERAL ELECTION

• Barack Obama 46% [46%] {48%} [49%] {49%} [47%]
• Mitt Romney 44% [45%] {41%} [43%] {40%} [40%]

• Barack Obama 49% 
• Herman Cain 38%

• Barack Obama 51% [47%]
• Rick Perry 39% [42%]

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 23% [24%] [27%] [28%] {28%} (29%) [25%]
• Somewhat positive 23% [20%] [22%] [22%] {21%} (23%) [23%]
• Neutral 14% [12%] [14%] [14%] {15%} (15%) [14%]
• Somewhat negative 12% [14%] [13%] [13%] {15%} (14%) [14%]
• Very negative 28% [30%] [24%] [23%] {20%} (18%) [24%]

Herman Cain

• Very positive 10%
• Somewhat positive 14%
• Neutral 20%
• Somewhat negative 8%
• Very negative 10%

Mitt Romney

• Very positive 6% [5%] [7%] {6%} [10%]
• Somewhat positive 21% [19%] [20%] {19%} [18%]
• Neutral 30% [32%] [30%] {30%} [30%]
• Somewhat negative 17% [18%] [16%] {13%} [10%]
• Very negative 12% [11%] [10%] {12%} [10%]

Rick Perry

• Very positive 4% [9%] [4%]
• Somewhat positive 15% [12%] [8%]
• Neutral 23% [23%] [18%]
• Somewhat negative 14% [9%] [6%]
• Very negative 22% [16%] [9%]
• Don't know name/Not sure 22% [31%] [55%]

Ron Paul

• Very positive 5%
• Somewhat positive 13%
• Neutral 29%
• Somewhat negative 16%
• Very negative 13%

Survey of 1,000 adults, including a subsample of 336 registered Republican primary voters, was conducted October 6-10, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points among adults; +/- 5.4 percentage points among GOP primary voters.  Results from the poll conducted August 27-31, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted July 14-17, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted June 9-13, 2011 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted March 31 - April 4, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted February 24-28, 2011 are in curly brackets.  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.  Results from the poll conducted September, 2010 are in curly brackets.

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