Opposition to Romney greater than backing, survey says

Mitt Romney finally has higher poll numbers than Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately for the former Massachusetts governor's presidential hopes, the numbers are the percentage of voters who say they would definitely vote against him.

In a national poll released today, 44 percent of likely voters surveyed said they would definitely not support Romney if he were on the 2008 ballot, compared to the 43 percent who said they would definitely vote against Clinton.

And only 16 percent of those surveyed said they would definitely vote for Republican Romney, giving him a 28 percentage point gap between firm opposition and support. Democrat Clinton, the New York senator and former First Lady, only had a gap of 10 percentage points because 33 percent said they would definitely vote for her if she were on the 2008 ballot.

In fact, all seven presidential candidates had more voters saying they would definitely oppose them than said they would definitely support them.

The poll of 800 likely voters was conducted Aug. 6-9 by Rasmussen Reports. Its findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Of course, 2008 is a long way off. Romney is leading in the GOP nomination polls in the key states of Iowa, which is to hold the first caucus, and New Hampshire, which is to hold the first primary.