First, a question: With Newt Gingrich surging in the polls in a very big way, I wonder if any GOP leaders have considered this: If the Christian evangelicals, especially in the South, dislike Mitt Romney’s Mormonism, will they be any more comfortable with having Gingrich’s mistress-now-third-wife as the nation’s First Lady?
Having said that, four weeks to the day before the Iowa caucuses, Gingrich’s lead is growing by leaps and bounds. An ABC/Washington Post poll of likely caucus-goers shows Gingrich with his biggest lead yet: Gingrich, 33 percent; Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, 18 each; Rick Perry, 11; Michele Bachmann, 8; Rick Santorum, 7; Huntsman, 2.
Public Policy Polling also surveyed likely caucus-goers and found: Gingrich, 27; Paul, 18; Romney, 16; Bachmann, 13; Perry, 9; Santorum, 6; Huntsman, 4.
At Politico.com, they are reminding readers that Newt led by 7, with 25 percentage points, in the Des Moines Register’s poll, and by 9 in the NBC/Marist poll, which both came out on Sunday.
Yet, most Iowa Republicans are ready and willing to change their mind in this wackiest-ever presidential primary season. The ABC/WaPo poll shows more than six in 10 potential caucus-goers say they could still switch their allegiance before the Jan. 3 caucuses and even among the likeliest caucus attendees, fewer than half say they have definitely chosen a candidate.”
Politico reports that Newt’s base somehow consists of the Tea Party. Despite his decades as a Washington insider and a lobbyist (a label he rejects), Gingrich’s rise to the top is being fueled by strong support from seniors and the Tea Party, PPP director Tom Jensen said in his analysis. With voters over 65 he’s at 37 percent, leading Romney’s 18 percent and Paul’s 11 percent. With Tea Party voters, Gingrich is at 35 percent with Bachmann actually coming in at second with 23 percent, Paul in third at 14 percent, and Romney all the way back at just 4 percent.
