Perry Supported by Repubs in Poll Showing Plurality Reject Views.

[jefferson_dem]

Rick Perry Supported by Republicans in Poll Showing Plurality Reject Views

In a hypothetical general election matchup, Perry trails President Barack Obama among the poll’s entire sample, 49 percent to 40 percent, about twice the deficit for Romney. Perry also confronts negative reactions from Americans disinclined to vote for a candidate expressing the skepticism he has about the viability of Social Security, evolution science and whether humans contribute to climate change.

“Science is an integral part of our culture,” said Danyelle Lowers, 27, a student at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, who considers herself an independent voter. “To have such a general disregard for the sciences is rather terrifying.”

Still, positions and statements that could hurt Perry in a faceoff with Obama work to his advantage with his most immediate audience -- Republican primary voters.

“Perry leads in the primary contest in part because some of his most famous stands don’t turn off the primary electorate all that much,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of Des Moines, Iowa-based Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll. “In the general election, these issues will matter more.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/rick-perry-supported-by-republicans-in-poll-showing-plurality-reject-views.html