Poll finds most Americans can't name a GOP presidential candidate
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination that don't come to mind for most Americans.
/ AP Photo/Craig Lassig,FileMost recent polls suggest that there's no clear frontrunner in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. A new poll suggests that may have something to do with the fact that most people can't even name any of the candidates.
About half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- could not name anyone when asked which Republican candidate they've been hearing the most about, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.
The lack of knowledge about the several potential Republican candidates could account for Donald Trump's recent rise in the polls. The business magnate and television personality already benefited from widespread name recognition, and in recent weeks he has dominated news headlines with his presidential flirtation.
Twenty-six percent of Americans surveyed by Pew named Trump as the candidate they've heard the most about lately -- a larger portion than those who named Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty combined.
The poll suggests the public knows little about the potential GOP candidates because they lack interest and because of relatively little news coverage on the subject.
Just 20 percent of Americans said they followed news about possible GOP candidates very closely in the last week, and coverage of the presidential race only made up 2 percent of news coverage in the past week, according to Pew.
The debate in Washington over deficit reduction, by contrast, accounted for 31 percent of last week's news coverage, and 36 percent said they followed that story very closely.
While Americans may not be paying too much attention to the upcoming elections at this point, other polls suggest they have strong ideas when it comes to proposed deficit reduction plans.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 78 percent oppose cutting spending on Medicare to reduce the debt, and 69 percent oppose cutting spending on Medicaid. Additionally, 56 percent oppose cuts in military spending to reduce the debt.
While Americans oppose cutting spending in those three particular areas, as many as 72 percent approved of the idea of raising taxes on the rich to reduce the national debt.
The Post-ABC poll also specifically asked people if "Medicare should be changed so that people over 65 would receive a check or voucher from the government each year for a fixed amount they can use to shop for their own private health insurance policy." The question referred to the 2012 budget plan put forward by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. Sixty-four percent of Americans oppose the idea, while 34 percent approve.
The Post poll results mirror other recent polls. A CBS News poll released last month found that 76 percent of Americans are not willing to reduce spending on Medicare to address the budget deficit. And last week, Gallup released a poll showing that even a plurality of Republicans -- 33 percent -- believe the government should not do anything to try to control the costs of Medicare.
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Afganastan and Ron Paul who knows that we MUST end the federal reserve and greatly downsize the size and scope of our government
We were founded on the idea that we would be a republics instead we have turned into mob rule. we have so many idiots that vote that know nothing of the candidates and dont think before voting and frankly are plain ignorant
the great Greek philosophers scoffed at the idea of democracy it is like asking a carpenter how he would do brain surgery. most people have no understanding of basic economics ,.
Oboma is what we got by this mob rule. Oboma is totally ignorant when it comes to economics and hasnt said one intelligent comment on the subject . All the man discuses is spreading the wealth around and taxing the rich more as if these two policies are going to create more wealth and production in our country. As the great economist Ludwig von Mises stated quote you cant consume which you dont produce. What we need is more production and more jobs and less regulations and less taxes NOT more.
this poll states that most people dont want to decrease the size of medicare the military or medicaid . well duh that is where all the money is being spent. if we dobt cut these programs we will go broke but the average citizen and those taking this poll I am sure have no clue or understanding of this simple math.
Socraties said living the good life means becoming less ignorant and more aware. well most people are ignorant on the issues that a president should be handling and therefore should not vote.
we need potential voters to start taking basic constitutional test before they should be allowed to vote just like we give out drivers ....
our country is on the road to ruin . Wake up people and support libertarian republicans like Gary Johnson
They better start realizing that the "birther" thing is NO conspiracy either. Ten's of millions of GOP voters will turn their back on the party unless they challenge Obama on his Birth Certificate and stolen SSN#, SHARE THIS ON FACEBOOK WITH YOUR FRIENDS, DEMAND THE GOP TAKE ACTION NOW OR LOSE YOUR VOTE... GROW SOME BALLS!!!!
That dog won't hunt.
ronnie1111, "stolen SSN#"? Are you just making this up as you go along? Clear-headed Republicans in very high places realized long ago that if the Republican presidential nominee were to embrace the 'birther' issue as a plank in the party platform, the GOP would go down like the Hindenburg come election time.
The Pretenders from ???
There`s NO GOP Contenders yet,...
Only Circus Performers
Screw "pahgre" Dude - You post what you want
Freedom of Speech Man
----------
You're right you can post what you want Ranger.
But be aware that if you are redundant in posting things that just look like jibberish people will stop reading when they see your name.
Or if you tend to make crude comments like Ranger - people will stop reading when they see your name.
As for Donald Trump, the man currently in the news through his dramatic pronouncements is remembered. This does not mean that they will necessarily vote for him in 2012.
The deficit has an impact on lives. The recent housing crisis and the bail-out of Wall Street is seared into the general consciousness. Both have provoked a good deal of populist indignation.
Candadai Tirumalai
-it is April 2011 and no Republican candidates have announced their candidacy.
-back in 2007, I think it's pretty safe to say NO ONE knew who BHO was.
Boy, there sure was no shortage of media coverage about Democratic candidates in 2007/2008! The MSM wanted us to know all about them! Obama the rising star, Hillary breaking the glass ceiling yada yada. And even Sarah Palin was the subject of lots of media coverage, but of a different sort, of course. Every single scrap of perceived dirt they could dredge from the dumpsters about her, her children, her distant relatives was all front-page fodder.