Poll Shows Romney Supporters Split

Mitt Romney suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination yesterday, leaving his supporters with a question: for whom will they vote now? A recent poll by Utah’s Deseret Morning News and KSL TV decided to ask.

The Dan Jones flash poll was conducted in Utah, a state in which a not-surprising 90 percent of voters supported Mitt Romney. Thirty percent of Utah voters said they’d now support McCain, with 25 percent backing Barack Obama. Hilary Clinton got 11 percent, Mike Huckabee 2 percent, and 22 percent of respondents said they did not know. Romney’s campaign spent some $40 million of his own money while seeking the Republican bid for president. He received 4 million Republican votes to John McCain’s 4.7 million votes, but he won only 11 states and only a quarter of the delegates. Romney said he decided to quit now in order to help Republicans beat the Democrats. McCain’s campaign now needs to find a way to attract conservatives, something Utah is largely composed of. As it is likely McCain will now get the Republican nomination, he will also need to focus on those conservative voters who have supported Huckabee in Southern states. However, this may not be hard if the rumor is true that Huckabee will be McCain’s running mate as vice president. When voters in the same poll were asked if they thought McCain is conservative enough to represent Republicans, 43 percent said yes and 41 percent said no. NBC’s political analyst Tim Russert opines that Romney is looking ahead to 2012. He points out that Romney is a young 60, giving him a long political life ahead.