Gallup Pull: Despite misconceptions to the contrary, Mitt Romney is competitive with rivals among conservatives

Gallup's most recent update of Republican preferences for the 2012 presidential nomination, conducted prior to this week's candidate debate in New Hampshire, finds that, among conservatives, Mitt Romney is tied with Rick Perry at 18%, though both candidates slightly trail Herman Cain, at 23%. Additionally, Romney enjoys a sizable lead over both of his chief rivals among the smaller bloc of moderate/liberal Republicans. (emphasis mine)

Romney is favored by 32% of Republicans in the East, more than twice the percentage supporting his next closest competitor in this region -- Cain at 15%. Romney has a somewhat less pronounced advantage over Cain in the West, 22% vs. 16%. Cain and Perry roughly tie for the lead in the South with Romney not far behind, while Romney is about equally matched with the two men in the Midwest.

Gallup polling suggests that, among the three leading Republican candidates for the Republican nomination, Romney has the biggest crossover appeal between the right- and left-leaning wings of the party. Romney's 18% support from conservatives matches Perry's and comes close to Cain's 23%. At the same time, his 25% support from moderate/liberal Republicans far outpaces Perry's 12% and Cain's 9%.

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking Oct. 3-7, 2011, with a random sample of 1,064 Republicans and independents who lean Republican, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

The full results and data can be viewed HERE.

Please check us out on Facebook and If you like what you see, please "Like" us. You can find us here.