Republicans looking to defeat President Barack Obama in 2012 are focusing on winning back Virginia -- and a new poll from Roanoke College shows they will have an opportunity to turn the Old Dominion from blue to red. The poll found that Obama was upside down with voters in Virginia with 54 percent expressing disapproval of his performance in the White House. Only 39 percent of those surveyed approved of Obamas job performance ... The same poll found a generic Republican beating Obama by 8 percent in Virginia, leading 41 percent to 33 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts led by the same margin -- 45 percent to Obamas 37 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry also led Obama in the poll, beating the president 42 percent to 40 percent ... The poll found that Obama did much better against some of the dark-horse candidates in the race. Obama led U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas by 10 points, beating the congressman43 percent to 33 percent. The president was also beating U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota by a similar margin. Taking 46 percent, Obama led Bachmann who trailed with 35 percent ... Obama did best in the Roanoke poll when matched up against a candidate who is not in the race yet. He led former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska with 50 percent while the Republican trailed with a mere 31 percent ...
After finishing dead last in the P5 straw poll in Orlando on Saturday, Bachmann returned to Iowa where she won the Republican straw poll in Ames last month. Bachmann held a rally in Cedar Rapids on Monday. With her win in Ames not garnering her momentum in other states or at the national level, the Minnesota congresswoman is clearly focusing on Iowa, which hosts the first presidential caucus ... Speaking of Iowa, Paul is building his team in the northwest corner of the Hawkeye State. Last week, Paul unveiled the endorsement of Clay County (population less than 17,000) GOP Chairwoman Kris Thiessen. Paul also garnered the backing of Clay County GOP Co-Chairman Josh Davenport ...
Perry picked up the backing of a major national conservative figure last week -- Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas. The Perry team featured Brownback at the P5 event, letting the Kansas governor issue spin for the Texas governor after Thursday night's debate. Brownback does have some background in national politics. Besides his years in the U.S. Senate, Brownback waged a brief campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2008 cycle, though he did not manage to make it to the Iowa caucus ...
Romney is also starting to generate more endorsements. On Monday, his team announced that he had won the backing of 10 more state representatives in New Hampshire. With Romney holding a commanding lead in three polls of the Granite State released last week, New Hampshire -- which holds the first presidential primary -- looks like a citadel of support for him. He also unveiled the backing of former New Hampshire Senate President Ed Dupont last week ... Romney has also picked up some major congressional endorsements in recent days, getting the backing of former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California ... Romney had Coleman on center stage after the P5 debate. While he turned to U.S. Rep. Connie Mack to handle spin after the debate in Tampa earlier in the month, Romney turned to two other Florida Republicans after the Thursday night debate -- U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney and state Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville. Thrasher has been a longtime Romney backer and the former Massachusetts governor chaired the First Coast Republicans 2010 campaign kickoff ...
After the debate on Thursday, speculation began to grow that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reconsidering his decision not to enter the race for the Republican nomination. Former Gov. Tom Kean added to that buzz on Monday, insisting that his fellow Garden State Republican was serious about considering throwing his name in the hat ... Christie will be hitting the road in recent days, but his schedule does not include any of the states that will hold early primary or caucus contests. While he will be hitting Missouri and California, Christie is avoiding the likes of Iowa and New Hampshire ... Herman Cain continues to generate media notice after winning the P5 straw poll on Saturday. Cain was backed by comedian Dennis Miller on Monday ... James Davis, who was associate director of communications for the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, was named on Monday to head communications for the 2012 version in Tampa.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
