Despite the fact that he finds himself fending off challenges from Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, a plurality of Republicans believe Mitt Romney is the most likely person to beat President Obama next year:
Four out of ten Republicans believe Mitt Romney would be the most likely candidate to beat President Obama in the general election, according to a new CBS News poll.
Romney, who has lingered at or near the top of the polls since the beginning of the 2012 presidential race, led Herman Cain by a 2-to-1 margin with 40 percent support.
Cain trailed in the category with just 20 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, each with six percent. Thirteen percent of respondents said they didn’t know which candidate was most likely to beat Mr. Obama.
Unfortunately for Romney, and possibly Republicans as well, at the moment electability isn’t the top priority on voters’ minds:
Electability, however, was not most Republicans’ top priority when selecting a candidate: 58 percent said they believe it’s more important to have a nominee who agrees with them on the issues than one who can beat Mr. Obama next year. Thirty-nine percent said the opposite.
This is the reason that Romney still finds it hard to shake off his challengers, and why GOP voters seem to keep searching for the not-Romney, even when every such search has failed to yield a plausible candidate. At some point, the GOP is going to have to decide if it wants ideological purity or if it wants to win.
