PPP Polling: Only Mitt Romney seen as presidential material

When asked whether they view these candidates as more suited to be Commander in Chief or Numero Dos, voters see only Romney as more presidential than vice-presidential material (30-20). And even then, half of voters aren't sure.

For Huckabee, that is 22-27, with 51% unsure. For Gingrich, 16-27 (57% unsure). And for Palin, last election's GOP VP nominee, the divide is 16-32 (52% unsure).

Tuesday's release showed that among even Republicans, only Romney and Huckabee are viewed as more fit for the Oval Office than for a warm bucket of spit. If you can't convince your own base that you're ready for the task, you'll be hard-pressed to not only get the nomination but convince swing voters that you are.

Since Palin turns off Democrats more than anyone else except maybe George W. Bush, you'd think they were the ones driving sentiment against her. But interestingly, while Palin does unsurprisingly worst overall, Democrats actually give her better marks (7-16) than they do for Huckabee (8-21) or Gingrich (4-18). Romney nearly breaks even across the aisle, 13-16.

Rather, it's independents who most strongly slot Palin at the bottom of the ticket, 13-34. Palin also turns off independents far more than the others do. By contrast, unaffiliated voters break almost 2:1 (37-19) for Romney's White House ambitions and respective 21-32 and 15-28 against Huckabee's and Gingrich's.

Do you think (candidate) is most qualified to be President or Vice President?
(President/Vice President/Not Sure)

Mitt Romney 30/20/50
Mike Huckabee 22/27/51
Newt Gingrich 16/27/57
Sarah Palin 16/32/52

PPP surveyed 600 registered American voters from February 11th to 14th. The survey’smargin of error is +/-4.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed andweighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.

Full Story HERE.
To view the crosstabs click the PPP icon below: