Newt Gingrich Takes Huge Poll Hit Ahead Of Iowa Caucus

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich suffered a big drop in support in Iowa with Ron Paul taking the lead weeks before a key caucus in the state, according to a Democratic polling firm.

The Public Policy Polling telephone survey of 597 likely Republican caucus voters in Iowa found Paul, a congressman from Texas, leading with 23 percent of the vote, followed by 20 percent for former MassachusettsGovernor Mitt Romney and 14 percent for Gingrich.

"Newt Gingrich's campaign is rapidly imploding and Gingrich has now seen a big drop in his Iowa standing two weeks in a row," the polling firm, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Gingrich's share of the vote in the past two weeks has gone from 27 percent to 22 percent to 14 percent, in the latest poll, taken Dec 16-18, with a margin of error for the survey of plus or minus four points, it said.

Gingrich's personal favorability numbers also fell during the past fortnight from plus 31 to plus 12 to a minus 1 now among Iowa voters polled ahead of the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3, the polling firm said.

Among the other candidates in the race to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid,Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry each received 10 percent of the votes, while 4 percent went for Jon Huntsman, and 2 percent for Gary Johnson, it said.

The libertarian-leaning Paul's unusual rise to the top of a poll comes amid a strong campaign in Iowa, the pollsters said. But they said his popularity depended heavily on the youth vote and he trailed both Romney and Gingrich among older voters.

Gingrich reached the top of the Republican field last month as the favored conservative alternative to formerMassachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. But his front-runner status has prompted attacks from rivals that he is an unreliable conservative and influence peddler, particularly over fat fees he earned from Freddie Mac, a mortgage giant tied to the economic recession. (Reporting By Paul Eckert; Editing by Bill Trott)

CONSERVATIVES ON NEWT GINGRICH:

Comments

[spunky2go]

06:50 PM on 12/30/2011

I'd love to see the top of Coulter's head explode if Paul or G Man gets the nominee.

[Beg4Nothing]

10:44 PM on 12/21/2011

The bad news is Newt will be on TV the next 4 years making reverse mortgage commercials with Fred Thompson.

[chuckl8899]

03:52 PM on 12/21/2011

If the GOP ran a fencepost wearing a sign saying "I'm not Mitt," it would probably get the support of more than 20% of Republican voters.

[ntjrock]

11:01 AM on 12/21/2011

597 people! 597 people! this conclusion was based on answers from a total of 597 people??
Journalists everywhere should be ashamed of themselves.
This is outrageous reporting no matter what your political affiliation, and we should stop accepting it.
Headline: huge drops in polls
Because a company hired by democrats asked questions of 597 (!!) 'likely republican caucus voters'.
What if it read,
Headline: Obama takes huge poll hit
Because a company hired by republicans asked questions of 597 'likely democratic caucus voters'.
597 people.
To all Americans, Democrats and Republicans, let's make our own decisions. Not the newspapers. And not based on answers from 597 telephone strangers.
How will I vote?
I'm American, and can vote in both caucuses. So, I'm a likely republican AND likely democratic caucus voter.
I'm American and will make my own decisions, not based on the glaring headlines of the newspapers, or the opinions of 597 strangers on the telephone.

[bkofficer2]

01:16 PM on 12/21/2011

Sample size doesn't much depend on the population size, which is counter-intuitive to many.
Most polling companies use 400 or 1000 people in their samples. There is a reason for this:

A sample size of 400 will give you a confidence interval of +/-5% 19 times out of 20 (95%)

A sample size of 1000 will give you a confidence interval of +/-3% 19 times out of 20 (95%)

Although PPP does have Democrat background, historically, its results have proven to be one of the most accurate polling agencies.

[mxytsplyk]

03:36 PM on 12/30/2011

Itʻs also cheaper to ʻsampleʻ 400 than it is 1000. Although I admit, when they call you call at dinnertime Most ʻsampleseʻ demur, usually with cheery comment about the callerʻs mom. This requires more than just 400 robocalls..

[rmurrayatlanta]

09:36 AM on 12/21/2011

I love the way this says poor Newt rather than Ron Paul is surging in the polls. Mainstream media really hates to use the four letter word Paul. Ron Paul 2012!

[robertstone1robert]

11:43 AM on 12/21/2011

It is a dirty word. His articles of racial hatred before he became a public figure would make a KKK member with convictions embarrassed.

[ecurb1]

08:14 AM on 12/21/2011

No question we Republicans are having some difficulty determining who we would like to run for President next year. But the primaries have not started yet, it is the press that wants to select the candidate. Not going to happen that way...........More importantly, Democrats can't even have an alternative candidate for President, they are going to have Obama whether they want him or not. To bad.

[perpetualpessimist]

03:15 PM on 12/21/2011

Kind of like a mirror image replay of 1984. Only difference is corporate media is not referring to opposition candidates as "the seven dwarves".

[Aquest]

01:32 PM on 12/25/2011

'Republicans are having some difficulty...'

You have a talent (although a sad and funny one) for understatement.

[spunky2go]

06:45 PM on 12/30/2011

Why would I want someone other than President Obama to support? He is the most qualified..especially from the pick of your trolls!

[Mort Adela]

06:32 AM on 12/21/2011

Waiter, what's on the menu today? Yes, Sir, I think you'll enjoy the candidate du jour, Ron Paul, with a side order of Sarah might run and for desert the Bachmann "this pudding isn't really pudding" pudding. Well okay, if that's all you've got, I'll have it. I guess...

[whitakerpoc1]

02:14 AM on 12/21/2011

even worse news for newton,
krispy cream will not be delivering his 3 dozen by 6am to his bedroom

[sal ear]

03:54 PM on 12/25/2011

well, all politics aside, I love warm Krispy Kreme glazed - the BEST!

[l78lancer]

01:28 AM on 12/21/2011

He's good from afar, but far from good.

He was much more appealing from anywhere across the country until he got on the ground in the state and people started to get an upclose look at him.

Now people can see all of his pimples, wrinkles, scars...he is no longer without spot or blimish.

[lvdragonlady]

10:17 PM on 12/20/2011

The LAST thing America needs is an OLD GUY running this country........WE really will not survive if that happens.

[joeyfoto]

10:41 PM on 12/20/2011

ivdragonlady wrote: "The LAST thing America needs is an OLD GUY running this country...­.....WE really will not survive if that happens."

I think ageism is no more fun that racism or sexism.

I think it would be more appropriate to say: "The LAST thing America needs is THIS OLD GUY running this country...­.....WE really will not survive if that happens."

[sal ear]

02:04 AM on 12/25/2011

I completely agree! Ageism is totally insidious & pervasive. And it is wrong.

[7garments]

07:40 PM on 12/20/2011

So the day after a certain someone moves into first place in Iowa, Huffpo treats us to three headline stories on Gingrich, one on Romney, and one on Santorum. Does Huffpo have any idea how funny this is becoming?

[Chi--townfool]

05:01 PM on 12/20/2011

Bad news for Newt- He's a fat ugly pompous blow hard! And he's not smart!

[mjc]

03:23 PM on 12/20/2011

The Republican Party is roiling these days and it was only a matter of time before the current front runner would be "run over". Newt Gingrich is so unorganized and Ron Paul is so well-organized, probably even better than Romney. Listened to Romney on the Charlie Rose re-broadcast this afternoon and the man is very focused on slapping down Obama but you really don't know where he is going with ideology. Ron Paul could well be the nominee of the GOP if he wins Iowa. At least you can figure what he would like to see in our Federal government. Paul's problem though will probably be that he'd have a tough time convincing members of the Party on the correctness of many of his signature issues, and, probably most important for the fat cats, he is not one to abandon principles.

[locohot]

05:00 PM on 12/20/2011

I certainly hope ''Ron Paul" doesn't get the nomination...his views on handling foreign policy scare's me as much as Obama...He want's to ''Negotiate" war...well, go ahead, and Americans, prepare to be bombed...

[TROP10]

05:17 PM on 12/20/2011

Only time we EVER got bombed in the past 200 years was when your "Hawk" friends were in power.... Take a chill pill, take off the tin foil hat and get back to the bomb shelter.... America will be just fine.

[mjc]

07:25 PM on 12/20/2011

Maybe negotiating "war" is the best war not to have one. Not being a Republican it is difficult to know exactly how Republican Americans believe, but being a Democrat, a liberal, think the best approach is to be ready to negotiate whatever issues are there to be negotiated. I don't follow Paul on the abortion issue even though I think his experience is probably better than mine but still want a certain amount of wiggle room on this subject than he or his supporters would allow.

[dino139]

10:27 PM on 12/20/2011

Locohot wrote: "I certainly hope ''Ron Paul" doesn't get the nomination­...his views on handling foreign policy scare's me as much as Obama...He want's to ''Negotiat­e" war...well­, go ahead, and Americans, prepare to be bombed..."

I would guess that about 77% of republicans feel the same way about Ron Paul and that's why he will NOT get the nomination. They are all scared that the terrorists are gonna get them, or that we will be invaded by some Moslem country that doesnt have a navy to speak of.

[sal ear]

04:07 PM on 12/25/2011

who'd have believed the mighty USA would be felled by Moslems?

Do you REALLY think Moslems hit the Twin Towers? I'm still undecided on that....

But, then again, the antipathy between Christianity and Islam is historic: The Crusades!

Humans are a tortured species.

[LE PHILANTROPE AVERTI]

03:14 PM on 12/20/2011

Bad news in this case is good news....

[GrumpyinAZ]

02:39 PM on 12/20/2011

The good news is that there is an opening in North Korea that sounds perfect for NEWT

[jshop]

05:12 PM on 12/20/2011

Let's all put our pennies together and buy him a one-way ticket...!

[sal ear]

03:38 AM on 12/25/2011

ohhhhh gosh.....I have to save ALL my pennies these days!

But no worries, Newt is so nutty/wacky, he's completely harmless (he hasn't the evil stature of that Devil, Dick Cheney....the guy is still ALIVE! I think he's had approx. 40 heart attacks!)