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POLITICS

Plurality Says Romney Qualified To Be President, Voters Divided on Cain

Out of a list of five Republican candidates running for the White House in 2012, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the only one a plurality of all voters considers qualified for the job. But Republican voters tend to see three top candidates as qualified.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 43% believe Romney is qualified to be president, while 28% disagree. Another 29% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has been regarded as Romney’s closest competitor, is seen as qualified by only 30% of voters. A plurality (44%) says Perry is not qualified for the job while another 27% are undecided. Confidence in Romney’s qualifications is down from 49% this June and June 2010

Cain, a Georgia businessman who performed well in last week’s GOP debate and won a decisive straw poll victory in Florida, now ties Perry with 30% of voters who say he is qualified. That’s a 12-point jump from June. Just 33% don’t think he’s qualified to president while 37% aren’t sure.

Romney, Perry, and Cain all draw pretty good marks from Republicans however. Sixty-four percent (64%) of GOP voters say Romney is qualified, 52% say the same of Perry, and 49% think Cain is up to the job. Fewer than one-in-five GOP voters believe any of these three are unqualified.

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