(Week of 3/24/2012) Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to hold what many observers see as an insurmountable lead in delegates to the Republican National Convention, but he remains unable to "close the deal" among the Republican electorate. In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll, Romney is dead even with his main challenger Rick Santorum; both men have the support of 31% of Republican primary votes. The two other Republicans still in the race, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are far behind at 11% and 9%, respectively.
Romney has a way to go to capture the hearts of some Republican voters — 30% of whom hold an unfavorable view of him. Still, none of the other candidates in the Republican contest are viewed much more favorably than Romney. Surprisingly, a large percentage of the GOP electorate holds unfavorable views of all four remaining candidates. Despite their concerns about the Republican field, 51% of GOP voters are satisfied with their choices.
