Poll: Donald Trump Leads 2012 GOP Field

April 15, 2011 RSS Feed Print
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BY Aliyah Shahid
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The Donald is trumping his GOP competitors.

The billionaire real estate mogul has taken a rather shocking nine-point lead in a national poll of the hypothetical Republican presidential field, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling.

Trump leads with 26 percent, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (17 percent), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (15 percent) and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (11 percent).

[ENJOY: The U.S. News Collection of Donald Trump Cartoons]

Rounding out the bottom of the list were former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (8 percent), Texas Rep. Ron Paul (5 percent), Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (4 percent) and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (4 percent).

Trump, whose potential candidacy has for weeks had many pundits snickering, has ridden his loud but debunked concern that President Obama wasn't born in America to the top of the GOP heap.

[VOTE NOW: Is Trump's Birtherism Just a Publicity Stunt?]

Some believe that Trump fares so well simply because he enjoys much better name recognition than the other candidates.

Other critics speculate he is using his presidential bid for publicity, which the 64-year-old television host denies.

"The fact is a lot of people in the polls don't vote for me because they think I'm just having a good time," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday. "They think that I'm promoting 'Celebrity Apprentice,' which I'm absolutely not."

[SEE ALSO: Trump's Big Announcement: $5M For Obama's College, Passport Records]

Trump said he'd make a decision about a White House bid by the summer, when his show wraps.

Public Policy pollster Tom Jensen doubts Trump will really make a go at the presidency.

"But if he doesn't, someone who taps into the same sort of hard, hard right sentiment he's appealing to right now will get their votes - it's hard to imagine these folks voting for a more centrist candidate like Romney or Pawlenty," said Jensen.

"And that means there's a very serious contingent within the Republican Party that's less concerned with beating Barack Obama than having a nominee who gets them fired up," he added.

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There are so many things I could say in response to claims that people in the comments have made, but I will stick with very simple ones.

Just because he's honest, does not make him moral. And I'm not even sure about the honest thing.

Just because he claims that he will 'make' Opec and China do things does not mean he can. Having studied International Economics and lived in China, he clearly has zero understanding of what exactly international politics and economics entails, and I won't even go into his understanding of domestic issues (read: none according to his interview where he admitted that he only wanted to talk about China and OPEC because they were what he understood... what do you think being President consists of??)

Mostly, I take issue with people championing his cause because of his business success. First of all, he has bankrupt many companies (so much for caring about the little guy) to his advantage, and he was given a multi-million dollar company- he really hasn't done that well.

Second of all, and more importantly, BUSINESS IS NOT THE SAME AS ECONOMICS. Having studied both quite extensively, there is some overlap obviously, but being good at one in NO WAY demonstrates ability to be good at the other. They are entirely different things!

Bridget of MN 1:58PM April 28, 2011

It doesn't take rocket science to figure out what is keeping us from having jobs. Mr. Trump, you get it!!! We can't count on the little guy businesses that our government will tax to death and put them out of business. Do you remember the fabric mills we use to have? Do you remember the quality of clothing, shoes and respect for what we looked like. That came from all the mills we closed and made this country stupid. We get our clothing from China (there to small) Indonesia, Pakistan, ...we give our children toys that has lead paint..Is that stupid or just plain not caring about our own. We eat food that poisons us all the time. I, for one was food poisoned last year...the store didn't admit it. $3,700.00 to my insurance co. for one afternoon in the hospital. Health Insurance??? We have no doctors..they have become traffic cops and refer us to others. Our insurance is billed very high rates that are not correct and the Ins. Co. pay. Medicare is billed for things that never happened...I have some from my father just passing away. MEDICARE PAYS IT. $10,000. for something that never was given..Who sees all this???? What is wrong with this PICTURE??? Schools we say, are receiving money to improve the quality of education...Nothing has changed, especially in MA...Special education has not changed in years..Don't give any school credit for making things better..it isn't happening!!!! School lunches are poison..we don't cook there anymore. The cafeteria workers empty frozen battered food into the ovens..This food is killing our children.

Why do prices go up, up, up when no one has any money? Qaunity sells more not high prices. Gas, lets not even go there...Trump has the answers..

LISTEN TO THIS MAN!!! Republicans and Democrats are pre -school people. They waste all our money and Time and they have everything they need and throw it in our face and admit it. President Obama..brags that he has the best health care possible..Shame on that poor uneducated man. Uneducated in caring about us. He didn't have Bill Aires meetings all the time before becoming President for nothing..there was a plan here to ruin this country.

Judy of MA 10:26PM April 26, 2011

we have 500 dedicated campaigners ready to go. We are waiting for the word which we have no doubt is coming and our marching orders. We havent been this excited about a candidate in a very long time. We are energized and relieved. We absolutely do not care what anybody thinks about his hair, his finances, his political affiliations, his marriages, we look at who he is, hear his words, see his family the real evidence and testimony of his character, educated children who have never had a taint of scandal and go to work every single day with the same ethic and enthusiasm as their parents. No one...not Levin...not O'Reilly ...not Rove...not any of those bitter old pharisees can tell us that this country does not need some of what Trump has! We actually do not care if he is broke. Its not about how much money he has. Its about how nobody owns him and nobody controls him and nobody tells him what to say and nobody coaches him. This is what we want. We dont care if he exaggerates or makes mistakes....its almost like how everybody used to feel about Obama but with absolutely nothing to support it....now Trump has everything to motivate people to jump on this rocket ship to a better life. He's the Rocky Balboa of 2012. We are rooting for him. The more punches he takes the more we love him.

Susan of NJ 9:50PM April 23, 2011

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