Romney Has Strong Lead Over GOP Field

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a commanding lead over the field of candidates vying for the GOP presidential nomination. Among prospective Republican primary voters Romney has the support of 30 percent, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed.

Mitt Romney (AP photo)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin draws the support of 14 percent, followed by Herman Cain at 12, Rep. Ron Paul, 7, Newt Gingrich at 6, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum both 4, Michele Bachmann, 3, and Jon Huntsman at 1 percent.

However, the poll showed that 45 percent of Republican voters said they were dissatisfied with the field of candidates. The figure is twice as large as that recorded at the same point in the 2008 campaign, NBC reported.

The survey also delivered some bad numbers for President Barack Obama. Nearly half of those polled believe the country is heading into a recession and 54 percent disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy.

“The public is incredibly pessimistic about the future,” Peter Hart, the Democratic pollster who conducts the NBC/WSJ poll with his Republican counterpart Bill McInturff, said according to NBC. Nonetheless, the president’s approval rating of 49 percent is higher than some predecessors in similar economic situations.

On the debt and deficit, 63 percent said the government should focus on reducing the deficit even if it meant slowing the economic recovery and 39 percent said the debt ceiling should not be raised. The poll surveyed 1,000 people by phone.