Michele Bachmann takes the lead in national poll

By Mike Mullen Tue., Jul. 19 2011 at 11:04 AM

Bachmann's ahead of Romney when Palin's not in the game.

Oh, God, it's really happening. Michele Bachmann is the leading Republican presidential candidate, according to a poll released this morning by Public Policy Polling.

Bachmann took a tiny lead -- 21 percent to 20 percent -- over Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and former shoe-in for Republican nominee. Rick Perry, who's not even officially running yet, finished third with 12 percent. Tim Pawlenty came in a dismal seventh place, with 5 percent of the vote.

The only spoilers to Michele Bachmann's candidacy now would be if Sarah Palin got into the race, or if anyone actually paid attention to the things Bachmann says and does.

PPP credits Bachmann's quick trip to the top of the charts to self-identified "right-wing" respondents, who pick her almost twice as often as they do Romney. The pollsters are impressed by Bachmann's numbers, considering she announced her candidacy on June 13.

"For the last month all the momentum in the Republican Presidential race has been on Michele Bachmann's side," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.

Watch out behind you, Michele.

In a poll that listed nine candidates, including Perry and Palin, Romney still has command, leading Bachmann 20-16. But when Palin's name is removed, Bachmann picks up those Palin supporters and leads 21-20.

In both of those polls, Pawlenty's 5 percent showings put him well behind the "Someone else/Not sure" category. In fact, Pawlenty's doing so poorly that PPP announced it would no longer include him in head-to-head state polls against Barack Obama.

Strangely, Bachmann does well at the extreme edges of ideology. Among people who described themselves as "Very liberal," 59 percent chose Bachmann in the Palin-less poll. For the "Very conservative," Bachmann was also the choice, with 26 percent.

Romney picks up most of his support among moderates. Tim Pawlenty, just to be clear, has no support from anyone.

Previously:

Tags:

Bachmann for President, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Pawlenty for President, polls, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, T-Paw, Tim Pawlenty

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MSLGWCEO

Just what we need, another nutty fundamentalist Christian president who has migraine headaches, triggered by stress while she goes through menopause. Oh boy!

novenator

THIS is how stupid the Republican Party has become. Have no doubt, they abandoned reason and rational thought long ago, and it's only become worse with time.

ZukWoo

Thats pretty scary when you think about it. Wow.

www.net-privacy.us.tc

Frank the Liberal Skank

Michele Bachmann as the current #1 choice among Republicans is really rather predictable -- they tend to adore silly shiny things that make lots of noise. I'm guessing a 1994 Hyundai without a muffler would run a close second.

Michelle Bachmann

John Stewart, Steven Colbert, and Bill Maher just put down down payments for islands. Looks like good times are here again fellas!

Mn Voter

Roll out the barrels, I can't wait for these idiots to leave the country. Between them they havve an IQ of 99.

MSLGWCEO

Actually, they all have very high IQ's, unlike Fox's lineup of propagandists and followers.

jww

With a standard error of measurement of 3 points, you're saying that they are of average intelligence (the mean is 100 for IQ). Your quip would be more meaningful, or at least funnier, if you had chosen a smaller number.

None of the Above

I need to petition the court for a name change. I shall now be known as 'None of the Above' , Then I'll get my name on the next presidential ballot. How could I possibly lose?

Greg

I never heard of this polling operation. Perhaps if the right polling operation were used, then anyone of their choice could be in the lead, (for a fee, of course.) Don't forget,,when asking the right people, even George W Bush could be made to look intelligent and popular.

Kirk the Conservative Jerk

Polls this early mean nothing. I'm just rather surprised by the fall of Mitt. Here is a man that has be campaigning for president for years. If effort meant anything, Mitt should have been leading the GOP race with 75%. Maybe his "Obama lite" message isn't sitting well with people that understand economics.

But hey, lets all give the rabid liberal nuts here at CP a round of applause, for their Michele Bachmann name recognition efforts.

Kudos to the kooks I say....