Poll Watch: NBC News-Marist New Hampshire 2012 Republican Primary Survey

NBC News-Marist New Hampshire 2012 GOP Primary Poll

• Mitt Romney 42% [39%] (45%)
• Ron Paul 22% [16%] (13%)
• Rick Santorum 13% [1%] (1%)
• Newt Gingrich 9% [23%] (4%)
• Jon Huntsman 9% [9%] (5%)
• Rick Perry 1% [3%] (7%)
• Undecided 5% [4%] (8%)

Second Choice

• Mitt Romney 19% [24%]
• Rick Santorum 18% [4%]
• Newt Gingrich 16% [24%]
• Jon Huntsman 13% [8%]
• Ron Paul 11% [11%]
• Rick Perry 6% [7%]
• Undecided 16% [9%]

Whom do you like the least?

• Newt Gingrich 27%
• Ron Paul 23%
• Rick Perry 17%
• Mitt Romney 13%
• Jon Huntsman 7%
• Rick Santorum 6%
• 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 60% [63%]
• Acceptable but with reservations 23% [23%]
• Not acceptable 16% [16%]

Rick Santorum

• Acceptable 42%
• Acceptable but with reservations 30%
• Not acceptable 25%

Jon Huntsman

• Acceptable 31%
• Acceptable but with reservations 30%
• Not acceptable 33%

Ron Paul

• Acceptable 35% [38%]
• Acceptable but with reservations 21% [29%]
• Not acceptable 43% [31%]
  

Newt Gingrich

• Acceptable 29% [54%]
• Acceptable but with reservations 27% [25%]
• Not acceptable 44% [19%]
  

Rick Perry

• Acceptable 17% [24%]
• Acceptable but with reservations 26% [30%]
• Not acceptable 54% [42%]

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

• Ron Paul 28%
• Rick Santorum 26%
• Mitt Romney 12%
• Newt Gingrich 12%
• Jon Huntsman 5%
• Rick Perry 5%
• None 3%
• Undecided 7%

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

• Mitt Romney 65%
• Ron Paul 10%
• Rick Santorum 7%
• Newt Gingrich 7%
• Jon Huntsman 4%
• Rick Perry 1%
• None 2%
• Undecided 5%

Which is more important to you:

• A Republican nominee for president who is a true conservative 33%
• A Republican nominee for president who has the best chance to beat President Obama 61%

Survey of 711 likely GOP primary voters was conducted January 4-5, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3.7 percentage points.  Political ideology: 15% [15%] Very conservative; 42% [43%] Conservative; 38% [35%] Moderate; 4% [6%] Liberal; 1% [1%] Very liberal.  Results from the poll conducted November 28-30, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted October 3-5, 2011 are in parentheses.