CBS News early exit polls: In Alabama and Mississippi, electability is key
Seth Roberts votes in the Mississippi primary at the old National Guard Armory in Oxford, Miss. on Tuesday, March 13, 2012.
/ Bruce Newman,AP Photo/Oxford EaglePrimary voters in Alabama and Mississippi say being able to defeat President Obama in 2012 is the most important quality in a Republican presidential candidate, according to CBS News early exit polls.
In Alabama, thirty-nine percent of voters said defeating Mr. Obama was the most important candidate quality; in Mississippi, 42 percent said the same thing. Both states are holding their Republican primaries on Tuesday.
The economy was the top issue for Republican voters in both states, with 57 percent of voters in Alabama and 54 percent of voters in Mississippi prioritizing it before the federal budget deficit, abortion, and illegal immigration.
In Alabama, 93 percent of voters said they were worried about the direction of the nation's economy, including 82 percent of voters, who said they were very worried.
In Mississippi, 84 percent of Republican voters said they are dissatisfied or angry about the way the federal government is working, including 40 percent who said they are angry.
In both states, about a third of voters made up their minds in the last few days. Most, however, decided on their candidate before that.
For about half of voters in both states, campaign advertising was an important factor in their vote decision. In Alabama, 48 percent of voters said it was important, and 47 percent said it was not important. In Mississippi, 51 percent said campaign ads had been an important factor, while 43 percent said they had not.
In Alabama, 47 percent of Romney's supporters said they strongly favor him; but 41 percent have reservations about him. Majorities of both Gingrich and Santorum supporters in Alabama strongly favor their candidates.
In Mississippi, just over half (51 percent) of Romney's voters said they strongly favor him. Gingrich's voters, however, are especially enthusiastic - nearly seven in 10 say strongly back him. Forty-five percent of Santorum's supporters strongly favor him, but 46 percent say they have reservations.
In Alabama, solid majorities of Romney, Santorum and Gingrich supporters say they will support the eventual Republican nominee in the fall.
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"Romney and Obama Both Rejected for Pushing Socialized Medicine Down American's Throats
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"DUMP ROMNEY: Democrats Love Mitt Romney, the weakest GOP Nominee"
I really can't imagine any person with at least a half a brain that would vote for him to win the GOP nomination.
He's pro-choice. Most Americans are pro-choice.
He supported increasing the amount of Americans who get healthcare.
Most Americans support this.
He actually went right of most Americans on healthcare because a majority wants universal healthcare.
He wanted to withdraw from Iraq. Most Americans support this.
He wants to raise taxes on rich. Most Americans support this.
He supported the auto bailout. Most Americans supported this.
He wants to reduce the growth of defense spending.
Most Americans support this.
Santorum is extreme.
Obama is very far from extreme. He's right down the middle.
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Good luck with that.
The leader doesn't know his positions from one day to the next, then they have a religious fanatic and a perrenial philanderer.....
As for the elections, what needs to happen is for both RS & NG to get out of the race. What makes RS think, with all his bad attitude now towards NG, that Newt's supporters will vote for him? With all the candidates holding conservative views, they're really basically all the same - 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.
What really separates Romney from the rest is his faith, purely and simply. If people can only see that mormons are amazing people, the kind of people they would love to have as neighbors, employees, employers, husbands, wives, etc, and quit listening to weirdos who hang out on anti mormon chat sites, they'll all be the better for it.
Quit the bigotry, and vote for the one who shares similar values AND who can BEAT OBAMA..... MITT ROMNEY!
Mitt is going to be the repub. nominee AND president of the USA. Get used to it.
What
Mormons make fine neighbors but unlike most average Americans their church is the center of their lives, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just kidding themselves. I personally don't have a problem with that anymore than I have a problem with someone making the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster the center of their lives, but I definitely wouldn't want to be married to one.
If Romney is truly a faithful Mormon then he is going to have personal beliefs about family and marriage that simply do not agree with the majority of Americans. Most importantly is he and his wife's view of the status of women being lesser than men when it comes to government, leadership, and particularly religious doctorine. Whether that makes him a bad President who knows. I will point out that former President Clinton also had personal views of family and marriage that were radically different than not only the majority of Americans but the majority of people within his own party, and yet he turned out to be one of the greatest Presidents in modern times, and the LAST president with the financial ability to not only balance the budget, but start paying down that rediculous debt that his Republican predecessors ran up.
Look at the clowns they've spewed forth.
Nope, birthers want extremists only.
Ike was an AVID golfer. No one said a negative word.
If it wasn't for unions, there would be no 40 hour work week, no such thing as a "weekend", no overtime, no work place health and safety laws, no child labor laws, no paid vacations, no pensions. Want to give that ALL back? If not - you're a hypocrite.
No one person "owns" a national economy.
If we expect ONE person in the WH with a magic wand to "fix it", we are fools. Economic trends don't start and stop with Presidential terms. We are now dealing with decisions made over several DECADES (including HUGE deficits under Reagan), but Bush II ballooned the problem up big time with gigantic expenditures on decade-long foreign wars, including IRAQ, which we are paying for NOW.
It will be another 8-10 years before our nation fully recovers.
You pay for the uninsured no matter WHAT. You can take the "ram" down your throat" from insurance companies who will drop you like a hot potato if they feel like it or not accept you at all if you have a pre-existing condition, OR you can join the civilized world of First World nations who provide health care for their citizens.
Not ONE Republican candidate offers an alternative or set of alternatives superior to the present Commander-in-Chief.
As a woman voter, I find the GOP a major THREAT to my personal reproductive privacy and decision making, so I prefer them OUT of the Congress, and in state offices as well.
I vote accordingly.