Even His Backers Don’t Really Like Romney

If you read the posts here regularly, you know that I’m a big fan of Steve Benen, whose thoughtful reporting now appears in The Maddow Blog. But I’ll cite only one more of his posts today, in which he includes this interesting graph:

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As Benen explains, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that voter enthusiasm for the presidential candidates being put forward by America’s two major parties is wildly different this year. “It’s really not close,” he writes. “While nearly three out of four Obama backers are motivated by their support for the president (what I call ‘genuine support’), more than half of Romney’s backers are driven by their opposition to Obama (what I call ‘support by default’). In other words, even those who intend to vote for Romney for president don’t really like him; they’re just prepared to settle for him because he’s not the other guy. The Republican isn’t inspiring admiration; he’s counting on the incumbent inspiring hatred.

“In recent elections, this hasn't been a recipe for success.”

Let’s hope that proves true in 2012, as well.

READ MORE: “Poll: Romney Favorability Ratings Remains Low,” by Jonathan Easley (The Hill).