New polls show Gov. Bill Richardson has gained ground in head-to-head competition against the two GOP frontrunners for their party’s presidential nomination, but that’s not entirely due to an increase in his popularity.
Richardson’s gains are partially due to “soft support for the leading GOP candidates,” according to the Rasmussen Reports article that accompanies its newest survey results.
In the survey, Richardson trails Rudy Giuliani 43 percent to 39 percent. He trails John McCain 43 percent to 38 percent. In April, he trailed Giuliani 51 to 34 percent. In February, he trailed McCain 45 to 36 percent.
Richardson has clearly gained some support, but the GOP candidates have also lost some. Rasmussen Reports found that Richardson is still unknown to about 25 percent of those surveyed, while 31 percent view him favorably and 42 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him.
The survey was conducted May 29, three days after Richardson’s appearance on Meet the Press that earned him a lot of criticism. It was a national survey of 800 likely voters, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
Richardson continues to work hard at gaining attention and raising money. According to the Houston Chronicle, the governor raised $275,000 this week in San Antonio and Houston.
And he’ll certainly gain some attention for this newest profile, done by Associated Press reporter Barry Massey. It portrays him as an avid hunter and a defender of gun rights.
Does that help him in a Democratic primary? Maybe not, but it will help him in the Rasmussen head-to-head surveys.
New polls show Gov. Bill Richardson has gained ground in head-to-head competition against the two GOP frontrunners for their party’s presidential nomination, but that’s not entirely due to an increase in his popularity.