New Hampshire: Little Interest in Palin or Daniels Entering Race for GOP Nomination

With three weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses officially launch the 2012 election season, many analysts have suggested that there is still time for someone new to enter the race for the GOP nomination.  While there may still be time, there is currently little enthusiasm for a couple of the bigger names to jump into the field.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey of Likely New Hampshire Primary Voters shows that 70% believe it would be bad for the Republican party if Sarah Palin entered the race. Only 15% think a late Palin candidacy would be good for the party. Ten percent (10%) believe it would have no impact and six percent (6%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

As for Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, the numbers aren’t quite as negative but there’s clearly no early groundswell for him to jump in. Forty-four percent (44%) of New Hampshire’s Primary Voters say a Daniels’ candidacy at this time would be bad for the Republican Party and just 10% think it would be a plus. Nearly half say it would have no impact (23%) or are not sure of the impact (23%).

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This New Hampshire survey of 721 Likely Republican Primary Voters was conducted on December 12, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.