WaPo/ABC national: Romney 26% Palin 18% Bachmann 12% Paul 9% Perry 8% Cain 6%

[Mr. Morden]

Washington Post-ABC News national poll:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_071711.html

Romney 26%
Palin 18%
Bachmann 12%
Paul 9%
Perry 8%
Cain 6%
Gingrich 5%
Huntsman 3%
Pawlenty 2%
Santorum 2%

If Palin doesn't run:

Romney 30%
Bachmann 16%
Paul 11%
Perry 8%
Cain 7%
Gingrich 6%
Huntsman 3%
Santorum 3%
Pawlenty 3%

If Perry doesn't run:

Romney 28%
Palin 19%
Bachmann 13%
Paul 10%
Cain 7%
Gingrich 5%
Huntsman 3%
Santorum 3%
Pawlenty 2%

A plurality of GOP primary voters said that, among the above candidates....

"is the strongest leader": Romney
"best understands the problems of people like you": Palin
"has the best experience to be president": Romney
"is the closest to you on the issues": Romney
"best reflects the core values of the Republican Party": Palin

Who has the best chance to beat Obama:

Romney 32%
Palin 14%
Bachmann 7%
Perry 6%
Gingrich 6%
Paul 3%
Huntsman 2%
Cain 2%
Pawlenty 2%
Santorum 1%

[Niemeyerite]

Palin and Paul perfoming incredibly well in this poll

[ZuWo]

I wonder why Romney leads when it comes to who is the closest to the primary voters on the issues, while it's Palin who seems to reflect the core values of the party in the best way. It would have seemed more logical to me if one and the same candidate had been mentioned most frequently in reply to both questions.

[Mr. Morden]

I wonder why Romney leads when it comes to who is the closest to the primary voters on the issues, while it's Palin who seems to reflect the core values of the party in the best way. It would have seemed more logical to me if one and the same candidate had been mentioned most in reply to both questions.

It's actually just a couple of % difference.

Closest on the issues:
Romney 20%
Palin 17%

Reflects core GOP values:
Palin 19%
Romney 18%

But Romney has a 13 point lead on Palin on "strongest leader", and a 14 point lead on Gingrich (nearest competitor in that category) on "experience".