Over at Pajamas Media, WEEKLY STANDARD contributor Jeffrey Anderson takes note of the surprising results of Tea Party poll:
As I write, the 2012 Tea Party Presidential Poll has tallied 1,876,814 responses, and here are the top-15 potential candidates on the leaderboard to date — along with the percentage of the time that they have won their respective head-to-head matchups in the poll:
1. Paul Ryan, 79 percent
2. Chris Christie, 76 percent
3. Jim DeMint, 73 percent
4. Michele Bachmann, 70 percent
5. Allen West, 68 percent
6. Tim Pawlenty, 66 percent
7. Bobby Jindal, 65 percent
8. Sarah Palin, 64 percent
9. Rick Perry, 64 percent
10. Newt Gingrich, 61 percent
11. Bob McDonnell, 59 percent
12. Herman Cain, 57 percent
13. Mitch Daniels, 56 percent
14. Rick Santorum, 55 percent
15. Mike Huckabee, 54 percent
So, of the five “plausible” Republican candidates listed by [George] Will, not one cracks the Tea Party’s top-5, and only Pawlenty cracks the Tea Party’s top-10. This does not bode well for the ability of these candidates to generate widespread enthusiasm or to unite the party’s establishment and Tea Party wings.
1. Paul Ryan, 79 percent
2. Chris Christie, 76 percent
3. Jim DeMint, 73 percent
4. Michele Bachmann, 70 percent
5. Allen West, 68 percent
6. Tim Pawlenty, 66 percent
7. Bobby Jindal, 65 percent
8. Sarah Palin, 64 percent
9. Rick Perry, 64 percent
10. Newt Gingrich, 61 percent
11. Bob McDonnell, 59 percent
12. Herman Cain, 57 percent
13. Mitch Daniels, 56 percent
14. Rick Santorum, 55 percent
15. Mike Huckabee, 54 percent
So, of the five “plausible” Republican candidates listed by [George] Will, not one cracks the Tea Party’s top-5, and only Pawlenty cracks the Tea Party’s top-10. This does not bode well for the ability of these candidates to generate widespread enthusiasm or to unite the party’s establishment and Tea Party wings.
The fact that the Tea Party base does not appear to be terribly excited about the establishment candidates presumed to be running could well be a problem for the GOP. There’s a lot more at the link, so be sure and read the whole thing.
