Thompson Behind Paul, Huckabee in CNN Poll

Fred Thompson Campaign Bandwagon The wheels continue to fall off Fred Thompson’s campaign, with a dismal showing in the latest CNN New Hampshire poll.

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has skidded into sixth place in a new CNN/WMUR poll of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire, edged out by ex-Libertarian and anti-war congressman Ron Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Steven Taylor‘s not at all surprised, having long thought of Thompson as “the Rorschach Candidate who initially appeared to be all things to all people, but who would fade once he actually hit the campaign trail.” That’s been my take as well.

The continued rise of Paul and Huckabee is interesting, too.

Huckabee is expected to finish second in Iowa and a strong showing in New Hampshire would give him the national spotlight and at least a chance at being taken seriously by someone other than reporters looking for a story in a long, dull campaign.

Paul, on the other hand, seemingly has no path to the nomination, since he’s not polling well in any early state. He’s got plenty of cash on hand, though, and has been very frugal in spending it. I’m not sure how he breaks into the upper tier but there’s no reason for him to quit, either, if he’s polling respectably.

Image courtesy McClean County Pundit

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Brian Middleton says:

    Actually Paul just won a recent NATIONWIDE Blind poll among all voters, not just Republicans so I would not count him out at all.

    http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1391

    In fact some insiders say he may be one of the top guys in NH.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTWyxtaGbcQ

    RON PAUL 2008 Donate Now please. He needs to win.

  2. Um, the link you provide shows that Giuliani won amongst Reps:

    The telephone survey, known as a “blind bio” poll because likely voters are given details of the candidates’ resumes without their names attached, shows Giuliani wins 34% support, compared to 22% each for Thompson and Romney. Ron Paul, who has surged recently in polls and has a significant online following, came in last with 13% support, while 9% said they were undecided on the question.

    Indeed, Paul came in 4th. That’s an odd definition of “winning.” Given that the issue at hand is the nomination, those numbers are rather significant.

    Comments like yours are what contribute to the notion that Ron Paul supporters are delusional.

    True, he wins against other Republicans in a broader sample (of all voters, not just Reps), but what does that prove? It wasn’t as if the other bios were of Dems. Given that Paul is oppossed to the war, it is not surprise that he won in the broader sample:

    The blind bio question was also posed to a larger pool of 1,009 likely voters nationwide, including Democrats and independents, and Paul was the big winner among that universe of voters, winning 33%, compared to 19% for Giuliani, 15% for Romney, and 13% for Thompson.

    Now, if Paul can beat Hillary and Obama, then you have something.

  3. steve says:

    Actually Ron Paul is polling higher than Huckabee in every state but IOWA.

    Zogby told fox news last week that Ron Paul is probably going to win New Hampshire or place 2nd.

    Ron Pauls fund raising is blowing away huckabee who has yet to raise any substantial money at all.

    I believe that Ron Paul will be taken serious after New Hampshire and Huckabee will continue to stay about where he is in the polls.

    That new Zogby poll is very interesting and after reading the numbers it looks like Ron Paul against any Democrat will be a slam dunk for the White House.

  4. steve says:

    No Steve Taylor that was the poll for conservatives, look at the entire poll that was done.

    Ron Paul polled with all likely voters wins every one hands down.

  5. Cleaner44 says:

    Ron Paul is gaining ground every day. He has clearly surpassed John McCain and is now a “top tier” candidate. He dominates in Straw Polls, Debate Polls, Fund Raising, Web Traffic and Grass Roots Networking. I have created a website to support this statement.

    Please visit http://www.thecaseforronpaul.com and judge for yourself.

  6. Brad says:

    Ron Paul is who I am voting for.

    I want my country back.

    I hate giving my money to people who spend it foolishly.

    If we were really safer than before 9/11 our boarders would be secure by now.

    The fools in Washington are Bankrupting our country.

    Save The Republic, Vote Ron Paul.

  7. Scott_T says:

    Boy mention Ron Paul, and 2 posters praising him w/n 15 minutes of each other here…….

    Coincidence?

  8. Jane says:

    RON PAUL is authentic. I love him…..

  9. AAAAANDRE says:

    Coincidence???

    Not at all! Just shows how many Ron Paul supporters there really are. We are ALL watching the media like hawks, jumping on any and all smears, lies, distortions and other inaccurate stuff posing as journalism.

    If we don’t correct these articles by commenting quickly, those smears, lies, distortions and other inaccurate stuff will be perceived as true when they are not.

  10. Tannim says:

    James Joyner said:
    “Paul, on the other hand, seemingly has no path to the nomination, since he’s not polling well in any early state. He’s got plenty of cash on hand, though, and has been very frugal in spending it. I’m not sure how he breaks into the upper tier but there’s no reason for him to quit, either, if he’s polling respectably.”

    Another blogger not paying attention, I guess. DOCTOR Paul has been top tier for a while, except in the blinded eyes of the Old Media. DOCTOR Paul’s road to the nomination is the backroads of America–you know, those roads not covered by the Old Media’s political traffic coverage.

    BTW, today’s HuckaBomb, 3 weeks in planning, fizzled. Dr. Paul’s donations passed him at 7 PM EST and are still going up, breaking $200K in one day based on a word-of-mouth, unplanned “just-for-the-love-of-it” run to show just how dedicated we are and just how pathetic Huckabee is.

    Of course, you don’t mention that. It wipes out your paradigm and the 1 cent it’s worth (20 cents in 1913 money).

  11. mike says:

    That Zogby blind poll where Ron Paul won by an almost 2:1 margin against any other candidate just shows how corrupt and misleading the news media are these days. They withhold his name from news articles and when he is mentioned, just belittle him. I’ve never been this excited for a presidential candidate before as I am for Ron Paul now.

  12. floyd says:

    Let’s face it! The Party will not allow Paul to win the nomination[loose cannon], Thompson is a little slow witted even with strings showing, Huckabee is the only logical Republican candidate,but Giuliani[disguised democrat] is the likely winner.
    As for McCain or Keyes[soon to be dim memories].

  13. Robert Simon says:

    Any person who honestly believes a pro-war,big government Republican can beat the Democratic nominee is delusional.Ron Paul has more independent,conservative Democratic and TRUE Republican support when you leave out the phony Republicans who support the other “alleged GOP” candidates…That mean’s he’ll do better in open primaries and worse in closed ones unless the Republicans wake-up and return to their roots of limited government,individul liberty and no more war-mongering…

  14. plubius_reborn says:

    The blind bio question was also posed to a larger pool of 1,009 likely voters nationwide, including Democrats and independents, and Paul was the big winner among that universe of voters, winning 33%, compared to 19% for Giuliani, 15% for Romney, and 13% for Thompson
    thats what the link he gave said
    http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1391