Perry threatens to cut into Romney's Base

[JoeB131]

As I alway said, Mitt Romney (R-Kolob) has support that might be a yard wide, but is only an inch deep. Give him a viable alternative, and it evaporates like a Texas summer.

Perry Threatens To Cut Into Romney's Base - Hotline On Call

A closer look at today's striking Gallup poll showing Texas Gov. Rick Perry rocketing to the top of the 2012 Republican presidential field captures the threat his campaign could pose to Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who had previously been considered the front-runner.

The Gallup results show Perry displaying broad reach across the party, with appeal that, for now at least, transcends lines of income and education. Those results underscore Perry's potential, as a staunch social conservative with a strong economic story in Texas, to build a primary coalition that bridges the divide between upscale, managerial Republicans and the party's more populist and evangelical blue-collar wing.

One other good sign for Perry: among regular church-goers in this survey, he's already eclipsed Bachmann, his most serious competitor for the votes of evangelicals and other religiously-devout Republicans. Among Republicans who attend church at least once a week, Perry draws 34 percent -- double Romney's 16 percent, and more than triple the 9 percent supporting Bachmann.

It may not last as he engages more sharply with the other contenders, but Perry's ability in this survey to outpoll both Bachmann among the devout and Romney among the well-educated shows the Texas governor's opportunity to build a broader coalition than either of his principal rivals.