July 27, 2011 07:36 PM UTC

Romney Should Heed Clinton's Fate On Inevitability

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• by: Colorado Pols

Interesting numbers in a new poll from Zogby released late yesterday. According to the results, Republican voters don’t really want Mitt Romney as their Presidential nominee…even though they seem convinced that he’ll be the guy:

Michele Bachmann continues to lead the field of announced Presidential candidates among Republican primary voters, but Rick Perry would be the top choice if he entered the race.

Mitt Romney trails both Bachmann and Herman Cain among announced candidates and falls even further back when Perry and Chris Christie are included. However, he continues to be seen by GOP voters as most likely to be the nominee. [Pols emphasis]

This is an interesting conundrum for Republicans. As we’ve said time and again in this space, most high-dollar donors give money to the candidates that they think are the most likely to win; it’s only human nature to want to back the winning horse. Romney thus far has raised the most money among GOP contenders, and by this logic, he should continue to bring in more cash than anyone else. Yet Romney’s poll numbers consistently show that Republicans are apathetic towards his candidacy, so how long will he be able to hold enough interest while maintaining his aura of inevitability?

In early 2007, a somewhat similar dynamic played out for Democrats with Hillary Clinton, who was widely thought to be the inevitable Democratic nominee for President. Clinton, of course, was not able to maintain that early momentum into Iowa in 2008. With just five months until Republicans roll into Iowa for their Presidential battle, Rep. Michele Bachmann appears to be more popular in Cornville than Romney…with Texas Governor Rick Perry looming large.

What say you, Polsters? Will Romney be able to hold onto his aura of inevitability? Vote after the jump?

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