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IowaPolitics.com: County Chair Surveys Show Most Undecided On Prez Candidates
3/23/2007

By IowaPolitics.com Staff

With the Iowa caucuses less than a year away, an unscientific survey of Iowa county chairs from both parties shows few who have committed to a presidential candidate. Of the 82 Democratic and Republican county chairs who responded to the IowaPolitics.com survey, just 10 said they were already committed to a candidate.

Among those who said they were not yet committed, more Democrats were leaning toward supporting John Edwards and Barack Obama over other candidates. Among undecided Republicans, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were the top choices.

Read below for details about the responses from each party.

**Democrats: Edwards, Obama Top The List**

On the Democratic side, just four chairs said they were already committed to supporting a candidate. Of those four, three chairs said they were already committed to supporting former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. and one was committed to retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who has yet to make a formal announcement about his candidacy. (Four Democrats, contacted before former Gov. Tom Vilsack withdrew from the race, had committed to support him. After Vilsack's withdrawal, their previous responses were deleted and they were asked to take the survey again.)

One of the Edwards supporters, who worked as a county co-chair for Edwards in 2004, said the former senator was still worth supporting: "He has worked hard to bring himself up to speed on some issues he didn't know about. He believes very strongly he can lead this country."

The survey also asked the undecided chairs who they were considering supporting, with respondents allowed to list more than one candidate. Edwards also topped the list here, with 71 percent of respondents saying they were considering supporting him. Several who picked Edwards mentioned working for his 2004 campaign and said they were considering working with him again.

Of Edwards, one chair said, "I like his appeal to the working class and commitment to health care. I also believe his southern roots will be of help in the general election. I don't feel John is as polarizing as some of the other candidates might be in the general election. I also believe he is one of only a few that talk of helping the poorest of our society."

Edwards was closely followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who appeared on 69 percent of responses.
Several respondents included both Edwards and Obama. One of those respondents said, "Both have great ideas, can communicate those ideas in an intelligent way, and can reach across many divisions within the United States."

In the next tier of candidates were New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (37 percent) and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (34 percent). Several people mentioned Richardson's executive and diplomatic experience as a reason to back him.

One Clinton supporter said that a woman's perspective would be valuable in the Oval Office: "I believe that Hilary will bring a new perspective to governing than many of the other candidates. Our country must head in a new direction. We need a strong statement that the United States is not a warmongering country."

RESULTS - Question: Who are you considering supporting?
(only asked of undecided chairs)
*John Edwards -- 71%
*Barack Obama -- 69%
*Bill Richardson -- 37%
*Hillary Clinton -- 34%
*Joe Biden -- 14%
*Al Gore (write-in) -- 9%
*Dennis Kucinich -- 6%
*Wesley Clark -- 6%
*Chris Dodd -- 6%
*Mike Gravel -- 3%

Methodology: IowaPolitics.com contacted county chairs by e-mail and followed up with phone calls to those who didn't respond initially. Forty Democratic county chairs responded to the survey, which was conducted from February through March.

**Republicans: Romney, Huckabee Leading Among Republicans**

Compared to the Democratic chairs, fewer Republicans overall listed candidates who they were considering supporting, with some saying they didn't have a favorite yet, and others saying they didn't think it was their place to pick favorites.

"The ones that have entered the race so far, just haven't 'grabbed' me," one chair said. "I want a real conservative in the White House, who, pardon me for saying this, has some balls to stand up to the Democrats. ... I'm just not sure the ones that have declared so far have it in them to stand up and stop the politicizing. We're going to need someone to LEAD us, and to help keep the White House and take back Congress."

Several chairs who did not pick any candidates said they had a responsibility to remain neutral and also saying they would support whoever gets the GOP nomination. One said: "One of my main priorities is to make sure there is a level playing field for everyone. Iowans are the individuals who help thin [the] herd."

Among the respondents who said they had not yet committed to a candidate, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney was the favorite. He was listed on 55 percent of the responses.

Next in line was another former governor, Arkansas' Mike Huckabee, who was picked by 45 percent of respondents, followed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (39 percent) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (35 percent). Respondents could list multiple candidates they were considering supporting.

Six Republicans said they were already committed to a candidate, with three saying they were supporting Romney and three picking Illinois lawyer John Cox.

The Romney supporters cited his management skills and experience, with one respondent calling him "A solid candidate with good management experience at solving problems." That respondent also said Romney "doesn't seem to be an ultra conservative, perhaps more moderate than many others." Those who picked Cox cited his status as a D.C. outsider and his conservatism.

RESULTS - Question: Who are you considering supporting?
(only asked of undecided chairs)
*Mitt Romney -- 55%
*Mike Huckabee -- 45%
*Rudy Giuliani -- 39%
*Newt Gingrich -- 35%
*John Cox -- 26%
*Tom Tancredo -- 23%
*John McCain -- 19%
*Sam Brownback -- 19%
*Tommy Thompson -- 13%
*Duncan Hunter -- 10%
*Ron Paul -- 6%
*George Pataki -- 3%
*Jim Gilmore -- 3%
*Chuck Hagel -- 0%

Methodology: IowaPolitics.com contacted county chairs by e-mail and followed up with phone calls to those who didn't respond initially. Forty-two Republican county chairs responded to the survey, which was conducted from February through March.


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