I didn’t see this coming.
When Aleister posted the Reader Poll matching Mitt versus Jeb, I thought there would be a relatively close split.
We deliberately forced the readership into that choice to get a sense of how people who normally would not vote for either in a primary would split between the two top likely “establishment” candidates.
Not only did we get more voting and commenting than usual, the result wasn’t even close, with Mitt prevailing 91% to 9%.
So it’s not a “scientific” poll of a cross-section of the Republican Party. So what? It’s a temperature gauge of how an important slice of the base would vote.
What it revealed, from the vote count and the comments, is that there is a huge amount of hostility towards Jeb.
While Mitt may not have been the first choice in a more complete field, there’s a more forgiving attitude towards him.
Plus, Mitt turned out to be a better campaigner than expected, and having run the gauntlet, his negatives already are out there.
This should not be seen as an embrace of Mitt as much as a rejection of another Bush (any Bush) presidential run.
Am I right in how I’m reading the results?
Mittmentum or Jebabhorrence?
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