Five New National Polls

The above cartoon by Scott Stantis in The Birmingham News shows the frustration that can be gotten from political polls. Although they can be enlightening, they can also be confusing and sometimes downright comical (like the old Abbott and Costello comedy routine, "Who's on first"). But I like polls, and I post a lot of them on this blog to try and let my readers know what is happening in the political world. Just remember, polls are just an educated guess as to how the people think -- not the be-all and end-all of political knowledge.

There are five new national polls regarding the Republican presidential race (which is by far the most interesting race this year). All of them show that Newt Gingrich has a significant lead over all of the other candidates (including Mitt Romney), but they disagree about just how big that lead really is. Here is what they have to say about the GOP race at the present time:

NBC NEWS/WALL STREET JOURNAL POLL
(December 7-11)
Newt Gingrich...............40%
Mitt Romney...............23%
Ron Paul...............9%
Michele Bachmann...............8%
Rick Perry...............6%
Jon Huntsman...............5%
Rick Santorum...............3%
None...............1%
Not sure...............5%

PEW RESEARCH CENTER POLL
(December 7-11)
Newt Gingrich...............33%
Mitt Romney...............21%
Ron Paul...............8%
Michele Bachmann...............6%
Rick Perry...............4%
Rick Santorum...............3%
Jon Huntsman...............3%
Don't know...............21%

REUTERS/IPSOS POLL
(December 8-12)
Newt Gingrich...............28%
Mitt Romney...............18%
Ron Paul...............12%
Rick Perry...............12%
Michele Bachmann...............10%
Jon Huntsman...............5%
Rick Santorum...............4%
None/other...............4%

GALLUP POLL
(December 8-12)
Newt Gingrich...............31%
Mitt Romney...............22%
Ron Paul...............8%
Rick Perry...............7%
Michele Bachmann...............6
Rick Santorum...............4%
Jon Huntsman...............2%
Other...............1%
No opinion...............19%

AP/GFK POLL
(December 8-12)
Newt Gingrich...............33%
Mitt Romney...............27%
Ron Paul...............9%
Michele Bachmann...............9%
Rick Perry...............6%
Rick Santorum...............3%
Jon Huntsman...............2%
None of these...............6%
Don't know...............6%