New Hampshire voters still favor Senator Bob Dole, R-Kan., in the upcoming Republican presidential primary, but would back retired Gen. Colin Powell if he entered the race, according to the second WMUR-Dartmouth College poll released yesterday.
Thirty seven percent of the people polled said they would vote for Dole if the election was held today. But the poll also shows that if Powell enters the race, he would become the front runner with 33 percent of the vote, compared to 18 percent of the vote going to Dole.
Thirty one percent of the people said they had not decided for whom they would vote if Powell ran against Dole.
Linda Fowler, director of the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences, said the results of the poll differ very little from the first poll conducted at the beginning of October.
"That's really the story this time, how little movement there's been," Fowler said on WMUR-TV news last night.
Both polls rated Powell as the most popular political figure in the race. The general's favorability rating rose from 46 percent to 54 percent in the latest poll. Powell is expected to announce November 11 if he will run for president.
Only 10 percent of voters polled said they would vote for House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., if he chose to run. Gingrich received a favorability rating of 25 percent, equal to President Bill Clinton's rating.
Tami Buhr, a poll consultant for the Rockefeller Center, said Powell's support makes the Republican primary more interesting.
"The continued support of Powell, if not surprising, is at least interesting," Buhr said. Powell's high favorability shows voters "would go for someone else," but based on Gingrich's ratings, they would not settle "for just anyone."
"There is something unique about Powell's appeal that Gingrich just doesn't have," she said.
Dole's favorability remained steady from the first poll to the second at about 44 percent.
Pat Buchanan was the most disliked most disliked candidate in both polls, with nearly one-half of voters polled having an unfavorable opinion of him.
Dartmouth student pollers interviewed 536 New Hampshire Republicans and 164 Democrats received a brief survey.
Among Republicans, 40 percent said they approve of the way Clinton is handling his job as president. This rating is "surprisingly high," Buhr said in a press release.
Overall, 51 percent of those polled approved of Clinton, which is "a bit higher than the national" ratings, Buhr said.
Fowler said on WMUR-TV last night that the first poll showed voter dissatisfaction with the government and the second poll contained questions to find out why.
In this poll, "three-quarters said they were dissatisfied or angry with the way the government is operating," Fowler said.
