Third time's a charm for Mitt Romney in Iowa?
They rejected him in 2008 and 2012, but Iowa Republican caucus-goers may finally be ready to embrace Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee.
According to a new USA Today/ Suffolk University poll, 35 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in Iowa would vote for Romney in the 2016 GOP caucus if given the opportunity to do so.
The pollsters initially gave the voters a list of a dozen potential 2016 Republican candidates, not including Romney. Asked to name their first choice, 13 percent said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (who won the 2008 GOP caucuses). Another 11 percent named New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, while 9 percent chose Texas Gov. Rick Perry and 7 percent chose former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Then the pollsters asked if they would change their pick if Romney's name were added to the list, and 35 percent opted for Romney. With Romney's name in the mix, about 9 percent stuck with Huckabee, while 6 percent stayed with Christie. Former Sen. Rick Santorum, who won the 2012 caucuses, earned about 6 percent as well.
Romney recently said that while it's very unlikely he'd run for president again, he can't completely rule it out.
Among Democratic voters in Iowa, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the most popular potential 2016 nominee, winning 66 percent support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts garnered 10 percent, while Vice President Joe Biden received 8 percent support.
The survey, conducted Aug. 23-26, has a 6.83-point margin of error for the subset of Republican voters, and it has a 7.09-point margin of error for the Democratic subset.
