Poll Shows Conservative Support for Thompson
By Chad Groening, OneNewsNow.com A grassroots conservative organization recently conducted a nationwide straw poll that found conservatives favor former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson 2-to-1 over his nearest competitor.
More than 39,000 active members of GrassFire.org participated in the survey, which was taken before Thompson officially entered the race. Steve Elliot, president of GrassFire.org, says that prior to Thompson’s formal announcement, the former senator was experiencing very strong support. Elliot stated that Thompson even outdistanced presidential hopeful Mitt Romney by a margin of 2-to-1 — at a time when, according to Elliot, pundits were saying that Thompson’s potential campaign was “staggering” and not working very well.
However, Elliot says it remains to be seen how strong that support will be now that Thompson is no longer just a potential candidate. “I think that the support to this point has only been for the potential of Fred Thompson because of his combination of political experience, his business background, and quite frankly that he can speak through the lens of the camera,” he says. “So it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to translate as he’s actually becoming a candidate.”
Elliot says although those surveyed favor Thompson, they still expect Rudy Giuliani to win the Republican nomination and face Hillary Clinton in the general election. But 29 percent of those responding to the survey indicated that if faced with a choice of either Giuliani or Clinton in November 2008, they would abstain from voting altogether or vote for a third party candidate.
In the Grassfire.org straw poll, Giuliani finished a distant fifth among those who plan to vote Republican, following (in order) Thompson, Romney, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich.
(Source: OneNewsNow.com)
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