Poll shows Romney bid for president faces hurdles

A majority of Massachusetts adults said Governor Mitt Romney should not run for president in 2008, according to a Boston Globe poll that also indicated Romney would face a tough battle if he seeks reelection to a second term as governor in 2006.

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Only 28 percent of those surveyed said Romney should seek the presidency, while 53 percent said he should not, and 19 percent said they had no opinion. Forty-eight percent said he would not make a good president if elected, and 33 percent said he would.

The poll also found Romney facing some serious political problems at home if he seeks another term. Just 32 percent said he should be reelected governor if he runs in 2006, while 50 percent said someone else should be elected. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democrat, was favored over Romney, 48 percent to 41 percent, in a matchup for governor.

Not surprisingly, Romney's support is strongest among Republicans. Sixty-nine percent of Republicans surveyed said he should be reelected, compared with just 12 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of independents. But his potential White House bid is not popular, even among many Massachusetts Republicans, with 39 percent of Republicans saying he should not run for president and 35 percent saying he should.

Andrew E. Smith -- director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the poll -- attributed some of Romney's problems to the sluggish Massachusetts economy.

The poll of 501 adults in Massachusetts was taken March 5-8. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Romney is weighing whether to run for president or to seek a second term as governor. He has made several well-publicized out-of-state political trips and has portrayed himself as a social conservative and used Massachusetts and its liberal political establishment as a foil in speeches.

Romney can take heart in the survey's finding that only 34 percent of Bay State residents said Senator John F. Kerry, who drew strong support here for his 2004 campaign for the White House, should launch another bid for president. Fifty-seven percent were opposed to another Kerry run for president.

As for Romney's future, Massachusetts residents appear eager for him to commit to either a run for governor or a run for president. Fifty-six percent said he should pledge to stay in office for four years if he runs for reelection as governor. One respondent, in an interview by the Globe, said he would support a presidential bid only if Romney did not seek reelection as governor.

''I would support Romney if he runs for president, but only if he does not run for governor in 2006," said Richard Martin, a retired MBTA employee and a Democrat from South Boston. He said he voted for Romney in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Only 25 percent of people polled for the Globe survey said that if he runs for governor, Romney should leave open a run for president in 2008.   Continued...