Published February 29, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.
You might think Vermont Republicans would be squarely of the Mitt Romney variety — fiscally conservative, socially moderate and extremely bland — and not at all interested in an uber-conservative culture warrior like Rick Santorum.
You would be wrong. At least according to a new poll.
Just in time for Super Tuesday, March 6 — when Vermont and nine other states will cast ballots in the presidential primaries — the new polling institute at Castleton State College has surveyed Vermonters about their attitudes on the presidential contest.
For its inaugural poll, Castleton asked 800 randomly-selected registered Vermont voters (Republicans Democrats and independents): If the Republican primary for president were held today, which of the following would you support for the Republican nomination...?
Romney won overall with 34 percent. No surprise there. But Santorum was a relatively close second, with 27 percent. Ron Paul finished third with 14 percent and Newt Gingrich got 10 percent.
Among survey-takers who identified as Republicans, Santorum is neck-and-sweater-vest-hugging-neck with Romney, at 35 percent each.
Regular readers of this blog may recall that in an August poll of Vermont voters by Public Policy Polling, Santorum wasn't even listed as an option. Dude was that irrelevant. Rick Perry wasn't even a candidate yet and he was included among the choices. Sarah Palin was listed too, even though she's never been a candidate.
Now it would appear that Santorumania has caught fire in our state. And yet with Romney's victories last night in Michigan and Arizona, the pundit class is questioning whether Santorum has what it takes after all. Maybe it's time for Newt comeback number three?
Here are some other highlights from the Castleton poll, which also surveyed Vermonters on repealing Citizens United, switching to a four-year term for governor and moving up Vermont's presidential primary date:
Castleton conducted the poll by phone from February 11 to February 22. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percent, though the pollsters caution, "the margin of error is larger for questions involving sub samples of repondents."
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