Should Mike Huckabee make an extra effort to woo the voters in New Hampshire or should he go straight to South Carolina where history shows that whomever wins the South Carolina primary wins the Republican Nomination?
Strategic National Consulting Firm
Romney 33.51% [31%]
Huckabee 13.83% [11%]
Palin 12.77%
Gingrich 8.62%
Pawlenty 5.21%
Daniels 1.60%
Santorum 1.28%
Barbour 0.96%
Thune 0.21%
Other/Undecided 22.02%
[ ] indicates 2008 NH primary results
Strategic National surveyed a random sample of typical New Hampshire Republican primary voters. The statewide, automated poll had a total of 940 respondents. It was conducted on January 19, 2010, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.
As we can see, there is a difference between those polled by phone and those who attended last weekend's straw poll. As WMUR stated, the straw poll shows "just how deep the support among the GOP worker-bees who help these candidates fundraise and organize their campaigns in the state."
Mitt Romney 35% [37%]
Ron Paul 11% [7.65%]
Tim Pawlenty 8%
Sarah Palin 7%
Michele Bachmann 5%
Jim DeMint 5%
Herman Cain 4%
Chris Christie 3%
Rick Santorum 3%
Mitch Daniels 3%
Newt Gingrich 3%
Mike Huckabee 3% [11%]
Mike Pence 3%
Rudy Giuliani 2% [8.5%]
Judd Gregg 2%
Gary Johnson 2%
Other 2%
Donald Trump 1%
Haley Barbour 1%
Jon Huntsman Jr. 0%
John Thune 0%
[ ] indicates 2008 NH primary results
273 ballots were cast out of the 500 Republicans who were eligible to vote in the straw poll.
Those who cast their ballot also had the opportunity to let the New Hampshire Republican party know what was their top priority: Which issue is the most important for the republican presidential nominee to focus on? Reducing the size of government 49%
Do straw polls really indicate which candidate will take the state on actual voting day?
In July of 2007, the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers conducted a straw poll and the clear winner was Ron Paul with 65%, Rudy Giuliani 8%, Mitt Romney 4% and Mike Huckabee 3%. Clearly Ron Paul was not able to transfer that straw poll energy to the actual NH primary.
John McCain 37%
Mitt Romney 31%
Mike Huckabee 11%
Rudy Giuliani 8%
Ron Paul 8%
Fred Thompson 1%
In August of 2007, Mitt Romney won the Iowa Ames straw poll with 31.6%, Mike Huckabee 18.1%, and Sam Brownback 15.3%. Both Giuliani and McCain skipped the Iowa straw poll. Mitt Romney was not able to transfer his lead from the straw poll to the actual caucus. Instead Mike Huckabee transferred the straw poll energy and beat Romney in the Iowa caucus by 10%.
Mike Huckabee 35%
Mitt Romney 25%
Fred Thompson 13%
John McCain 13%
Ron Paul 10%
Rudy Giuliani 4%
What do you think Mike Huckabee's strategy should be?
