A poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, showed Republicans have increasingly turned against billionaire and reality TV star Donald Trumps presidential ambitions. While Trump led the Republican pack in Aprils version of the PPP poll, he was a distant fifth in the May poll.
In this latest poll former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee leads the pack with 19 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts is right at his heels in second with 18 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, expected to announce his presidential bid on Wednesday, placed third with 13 percent, followed by former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska with 12 percent. Trump tied U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas for fifth with 8 percent, followed by two Minnesotans -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann with 7 percent and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty in eighth with 5 percent.
Donald Trump had a meteoric rise to the top of the GOP presidential field and has fallen back down just as quickly, said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. Republican voters burned out on him pretty fast, especially after the birther issue lost some of its potency with the release of President Obamas birth certificate.
When Trump was taken out of the mix, Romney topped the poll with 21 percent and Huckabee placed second with 20 percent. Gingrich moved up to 15 percent while Palin stood at 14 percent. Paul remained at 8 percent, while Bachmann still took 7 percent. Pawlenty followed with 6 percent.
With Huckabee and Trump out of the equation, Romney led with 24 percent and Gingrich moved up to second with 20 percent. Palin took third with 17 percent and Paul followed with 12 percent. The two Minnesotans tied with 8 percent.
With Palin and Trump out of the race, Huckabee led with 24 percent and Romney took second with 22 percent. Gingrich was in third with 20 percent. Bachmann moved up to fourth with 9 percent followed by Paul with 8 percent and Pawlenty with 7 percent.
If Huckabee, Palin and Trump all stayed on the sidelines, Romney took first with 28 percent with Gingrich in second at 26 percent. The others trailed -- Paul with 12 percent, Bachmann with 11 percent and Pawlenty with 9 percent.
Trump had the highest unfavorable ratings among the candidates with 53 percent of Republicans surveyed having an unfavorable view of him, while just 34 percent saw him favorably. Among the other candidates, Palin commanded the highest favorable numbers -- 61 percent -- but also the highest unfavorable ones at 31 percent. Huckabee was seen favorably by 59 percent and unfavorably by 22 percent. While 30 percent viewed Gingrich unfavorably, 54 percent saw the former congressional leader in a favorable light. Romney was seen favorably by 52 percent and unfavorably by 29 percent.
As Debnam noted, with the White House having released Obamas birth certificate, doubts about the presidents constitutional eligibility seem to be fading among Republicans. While 51 percent of Republicans did not think that Obama was born in the United States back in February, in the most recent poll, that figure dropped to 34 percent. Forty-eightpercent of the Republicans surveyed believe Obama was born in the United States
The poll of 610 likely Republican primary voters was taken between May 5 and 8 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Other Republicans who have either declared their candidacies or are still considering it include former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, businessman Herman Cain, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, activist Fred Karger, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama, former Gov. George Pataki of New York, former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
