Capitol View: August 23, 2011 Archive

Public Policy Polling: Bachmann slips, Perry moves up

Posted at 11:20 AM on August 23, 2011 by Catharine Richert (6 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

With Rick Perry's entrance into the race, Rep. Michele Bachmann's lead in Iowa appears to be slipping, according a new survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling company.

The Texas governor is the favorite among 22 percent of Iowa Republican voters. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is polling at 19 percent, and Bachmann has 18 percent support. When former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who hasn't declared her candidacy yet, is added to the mix, Bachmann's support drops to 15 percent.

Despite Bachmann's strong showing in the Ames Straw Poll, PPP points out that she hasn't moved up in the ranks since the group surveyed Iowa voters in June; she was in third place then, and she's in third place now. At the same time, Bachmann's favorability numbers have dropped since the June PPP poll from 53 percent to 47 percent. The percent of Republican voters who see her in a negative light has climbed from 16 percent to 35 percent.

It's also worth noting that Perry seems to be stealing some of Bachmann's far right support. According to the survey, one-third of Iowa Republicans say they are members of the Tea Party, but many of them - about 32 percent - support Perry. About 22 percent support Bachmann.

The survey was conducted among 317 Iowa Republican voters, and has a 5.5 percent margin of error. Read more about the group's methodology here.

Meanwhile, a separate poll conducted by Gallup shows that President Barack Obama is in a close contest with Romney, Perry, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Bachmann.

According to the poll, if the elections were held today, Romney would have 48 percent of voter support while Obama would have 46 percent. Perry and Obama would be tied at 47 percent of support, and Obama would just barely lead Paul and Bachmann.

Gallup points out that Obama's approval rating is around 40 percent - less than the proportion of people who say they would vote for him.

"Obama's position of rough parity against leading GOP candidates shows that more Americans at the moment say they would vote for Obama than approve of the job he is doing -- perhaps a reflection of the continuing lack of a strong front-runner on the Republican side," the Gallup pollsters wrote in their report.

More about Gallup's methodology is here.

Cravaack reverses course, will now hold Duluth town hall

Posted at 1:00 PM on August 23, 2011 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, U.S. House

From MPR's Bill Catlin and Dan Kraker...

Amid mounting pressure, 8th District GOP congressman Chip Cravaack has announced he will hold an open town hall meeting at 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the Duluth airport.

Cravaack has taken flack from constituents and in national publications for the meetings he's held during the August recess. The only free, open-to-all meetings were held only in relatively remote places, that are long drives from Duluth, the district's population and media center. Cravaack made the announcement to protesters outside a meeting sponsored by a business organization that was charging attendees a $10 fee for lunch.