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| GOP Polls - Newt Gingrich surges to the top |
According to the latest NBC News-Marist polls, Gingrich has now opened up commanding leads in two states that historically have played important roles in deciding the eventual Republican nominee - South Carolina and Florida.
Gingrich also leads by a wide margin in Iowa, the first state to vote in three weeks' time.
This week's The Hill Poll also indicates that GOP and conservative voters view Gingrich as the better choice on a wide range of issues compared to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Fifty percent of self-identified Republican voters said that Gingrich would be better at making a wise decision in a crisis - only 32 percent opted for Romney. Conservative voters also favored Gingrich on the same item of the survey, 46 percent to 32 percent. On the question of who has a better all-around ability to lead the nation, both republicans and conservatives also favored Gingrich.
Similar trend has been found in an ABC/Washington Post poll of likely caucus-goers released Tuesday which shows Gingrich with 33 percent, up 15 points over Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
The results of these new GOP polls have left veteran Republicans scratching their heads.
According to the Associated Press (AP), veteran Republicans "are trying to figure out why the former House speaker is supported by GOP voters who think he's not particularly honest and doesn't share their values. They're puzzled that Iowa evangelical Christians are flocking to a man who was unfaithful to two wives, paid $300,000 in House ethics fines and converted to Roman Catholicism."
"They're surprised that Republican voters say they value Gingrich's experience far more than that of his rivals. Gingrich's record of earning millions of dollars in the government influence business, after 20 years in Congress, seems to upend the notion that this election cycle is driven by tea partyers' hostility to Washington insiders." AP added.
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