Intriguing Romney numbers du jour

Published Mar 29 2006, 02:24 PM by Adam Reilly

Courtesy of The Hotline.

There's good news and bad news here for Mitt. The bad news is that, among the "Bush Base"--the 45 percent or so of Republicans who still thing W. is doing a bang-up job--Romney is something of a presidential afterthought. When these true believers are asked who they'd vote for in a 2008 Republican primary, Romney finishes a distant fifth, behind Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Frist.

Here's the good news: Romney's negatives are remarkably low. When the same voters are asked who they'd never vote for in a presidential primary, Romney finishes dead last among 11 candidates, with just two percent saying they absolutely, positively wouldn't give him the nod.

Finally, here's the poll's profile of the die-hard Bush voter. Their support of the president almost seems to be an article of faith--which makes sense, given the way the president's own head apparently works:

Looking solely at demographics, staunch Bush supporters are typically caucasian (89%), over the age of 45 (62%), protestant (60%), and attend religious services regularly. Trending socially conservative, morality is a top concern for them. But when it comes to casting a vote for their next POTUS, they are not looking for a renegade, but someone who more fits into the mold of Bush. 81% say they are "very likely" to re-elect Bush if he was eligible to run for POTUS again and 99% approve of the job Bush is doing as pres.