Romney leads Cain 2-to-1 in electability, says CBS News poll

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, right, greets supporters following a rally at the State House in Concord, N.H., Monday, Oct. 24, 2011.

/ AP Photo/Jim Cole

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Four out of ten Republicans believe Mitt Romney would be the most likely candidate to beat President Obama in the general election, according to a new CBS News poll.

Romney, who has lingered at or near the top of the polls since the beginning of the 2012 presidential race, led Herman Cain by a 2-to-1 margin with 40 percent support.

Cain trailed in the category with just 20 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, each with six percent. Thirteen percent of respondents said they didn't know which candidate was most likely to beat Mr. Obama.

Preview: GOP candidates ready for CBS News/National Journal debate

Electability, however, was not most Republicans' top priority when selecting a candidate: 58 percent said they believe it's more important to have a nominee who agrees with them on the issues than one who can beat Mr. Obama next year. Thirty-nine percent said the opposite.

But the race could still change; seven in 10 Republican primary voters say it is still too early to say for sure which candidate they will support.

This view appears to have helped Cain, who continues to lead Romney and Newt Gingrich overall -- though his numbers have slipped since sexual misconduct allegations against him surfaced in late October and November. Eighteen percent of respondents said they would support Cain for the GOP presidential nomination, while 15 percent said the same of each Romney and Gingrich.

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Rick Perry trailed with 8 percent support, and was followed by Ron Paul, who won five percent. Michele Bachmann, meanwhile, earned only four percent support.

Cain leads Romney and Gingrich among Republican voters who think it's more important that a candidate share their positions on issues; Romney leads among those who say electability is more important.

Forty percent of Republican primary voters said they prefer a nominee who has experience mostly in the business or private sector, as opposed to 14 percent who prefer a nominee with a mostly political background. Forty-one percent say it doesn't matter.

Republican voters also ranked Romney as the most qualified Republican contender to be commander-in-chief, with 26 percent support. He was followed by Gingrich, with 21 percent, and then Cain, with 11 percent.

Gingrich, meanwhile, was ranked most trustworthy in handling an international crisis, earning 31 percent support to Romney's 15 percent.

Romney, with 17 percent, and Cain, with 13 percent, came out on top as the candidates who most represent voters' values; Bachmann followed with 10 percent support.

Still, two months before the Iowa caucuses, most voters say it's still too early to say for sure who they'll vote for in the primary contests. The total number of undecided voters, plus those who volunteer that they'd like "someone else," is up five points from last month, to 31 percent from 26 percent. And seven in 10 Republican voters who do pick a candidate say it's too early to say that their minds are made up.

A majority of voters who did choose a candidate said they have reservations about that choice. Only a third said they strongly favor the candidate they selected.

Meanwhile, only three frontrunners - Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich - have a net favorable opinion among Republican primary voters. And many voters remain undecided about all eight major candidates.

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Read the complete poll (PDF)

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of registered voters could be plus or minus three points and five points for the sample of Republican primary voters. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[gep1955]

Romney is a RINO. Nice guy, capable and all but America needs someone to shut down and scrap what the political machines of both parties have done to Washington. The earthquake a couple months ago in Virginia was the founding fathers turning over in their graves.

[kinabru]

Romney is not a rino, that is something the left has thrown at him. All of the candidates are political, they wouldnt be running if they weren't

[kuka_loca]

Romney is a conservative, obviously and this flip-flopper thing is a made-up fault. Reagan used to be a Democrat and a union leader. He became a Republican; he was married, then he divorced; he became Governor of California, and signed an abortion law, and subsequently 2 million abortions were performed. He also gave amnesty to more than 1 M immigrants. Later, he changed his mind about abortion, and strongly opposed it.

Some called him a flip-flopper, but that "flip-flopper" charge turned out to be totally irrelevant because he became a superior President. . . . What voters want in a politician above all is someone who keeps his promises.

When Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts, he made a list of all the promises he had made during the campaign. When each one was fulfilled, he checked it off the list. I admire that. . . . Democrat and Republican enemies of Romney want you to believe that changing one's mind is the be-all of integrity. But there are hundreds of actions and qualities that reflect integrity, e. g., following the ten commandments, working hard without complaint, following the golden rule, performing charity work, sacrificing for one's family, temperance, humility, forbearance, forgiveness, courage, benevolence, and so on and on, and Romney seems to be above average in many of them.

All these so call conservatives conveniently forget important parts of history, liberal do the same.

There is a group of self destroying "americans" they will not stop damaging the fuselage of the restoring DIGNITY airplane until it could NO longer land.

I believe liberalism and conservatism have become a big business for those that make a living talking and writing about them and they start to sound more like a mind condition similar to what is now known as BI-POLAR disease.

STOP this "flip-flopper" business come on ... get a life!!

VOTE Mitt Romnet

[kinabru]

Amen, that is the truth, everybody changes over the course of time, events change, new ideas come along, if one remains the same from cradle to their death they would be an awfully stupid person. Romney 2012

[tsigili]

Not true. If that were true, the polls would reflect it. His numbers are actually just over half of that.

[MikeNC79]

No way I am voting for Romney. They didn't ask me.

[Kenny777_y]

here is what ROMNEY is all about... he will say one thing on CNN than an hour later on FOX say something different. the bias of C.B.S. is un--- freaking real.14% for someone else,,,17% undecided.. lol, kinda blows the ROMNEY electability out the water.

[libertyordeathusa]

yep yur right on here

[jonathandine]

I must be part of the 14 percent who are voting for someone else.. Gary Johnson! Socially liberal, Fiscally conservative.. Best man for the job hands down! Johnson is a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the GOP candidates. Pro- choice, Pro gay rights, Pro immigration, Anti- war GOP candidate who wants to balance the budget and legalize marijuana. With Gary Johnson you can have it all!

[jonathandine]

I must be part of the 14 percent who are voting for someone else.. Gary Johnson! Socially liberal, Fiscally conservative.. Best man for the job hands down! Johnson is a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the GOP candidates.

[mwade002]

THE GROPER IS GOING DOWN FAST

[Gene1504]

I could care less what liberal biased CBS thinks or Liberal Romney believes. The best person for the Republican Party to run is a strong conservative such as Herman Cain. Independents do not want Obama's social liberalism any more then any member of the tea party. Conservatives and Independents are sick and tired of 9% unemployment. We are all sick and tired of Obama's spend spend spend. And CBS spin spin spin.

The only people who want Romney to be president are the liberals who will vote for Obama anyway.

[mwade002]

ha ha

[kinabru]

How is Cain a strong conservative? In the debates I don't hear Cains position any different than Romneys, so If you say Cain is a conservative then so is Romney. However, Romney is a conversative and he has started business, so he knows what to do, Cain never started a business, he went to established ones.

[toyojames]

twice as electable? 2 x 0 still equals zero. that's the chance of any gop cartoon character being elected prez. i'll prove it on election day.