Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul may have a loyal base of
supporters, but the latest Rassmussen poll shows support for his
campaign plummeting at the national level.
The survey, released Thursday, finds the Texas Republican congressman trailing his Republican rivals by a wide margin.

Nationally, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich leads the presidential
pack among likely Republican primary voters with 35 percent. Mr.
Gingrich is trailed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 28
percent, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum with 16 percent,
and Mr. Paul with just 10 percent support.
The poll comes as the Texas Republican — who has failed to secure a
victory in the Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina primary — has
vowed to carry on his campaign for the Republican nomination.
The poll also shows support for Mr. Paul’s campaign in Florida well
behind that of his Republican rivals. Mr. Romney leads with 39 percent
support, compared to Mr. Gingrich’s 31 percent. Mr. Santorum earns 12
percent, while Mr. Paul runs last with nine percent percent support.
Four percent say they prefer some other candidate, and seven percent are
undecided.

Mr. Paul also struggles in the field of favorable opinion, which Mr.
Romney leads with 73 percent support. Mr. Gingrich is viewed favorably
by 63 percent, Mr. Santorum by 59 percent and Mr. Paul by just 35
percent.
The poll likely reflects voter sentiment regarding Mr. Paul’s
decision to bypass the Florida primary in favor of competing in smaller
states, such as Maine and Nevada. The Paul campaign said the decision
does not reflect a bias against Florida voters, rather it is based on
their strategy of securing the largest number of delegate votes in favor
Mr. Paul. Florida’s number of delegates was halved in late 2011, after
state lawmakers moved up the date of the state’s primary.
The Florida survey of 750 Likely Republican Primary Voters was
conducted on January 25, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of
sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of
confidence.
http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/latest-poll-shows-support-for-ron-paul-plummeting/