Candidate Name Recognition Not Increasing

Gallup’s Frank Newport reports that, despite a historically early start to the campaign, candidate name recognition has not changed over the past five months. He provides a detailed analysis but, in this case, a picture is worth more than a thousand words:

Gallup Chart Candidate Name Recognition

Only Mitt Romney has had any appreciable movement and he is by far the announced candidate with the least name recognition.

This would seem to shed more light on the age-old question, If a campaign falls in the forest and nobody but political junkies is paying attention, is it really a campaign?

FILED UNDER: 2008 Election, Public Opinion Polls, , ,
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. Dave Schuler says:

    Where is there to go above 98% name recognition? Flash lights in the eyes of the comatose?

    Lack of name recognition at this point probably isn’t a bad thing. If Sen. Clinton is the Democratic nominee, the election could be held tomorrow—everybody’s already made up their minds.

  2. James Joyner says:

    True on Clinton.

    It continues to amaze me that the most recent VP nominee of a major party is only at 88%. And, surely, you’d think Giuliani and McCain would be in the 90s by now. And, heck, that Romney is only at 46% is mindboggling to me.

    Then again, I only know who won American Idol and Dancing with the Stars because I own a Hollywood site. Most people likely know that stuff very well.