Rep. Michele Bachmann has entered the 2012 presidential race in fairly good shape. According to a new poll from Gallup, the congresswoman from Minnesota has seen her name recognition climb from 52 percent in late February/early March to 69 percent over the two-week period of June 13-26. This places her fifth on the list of the most well-known Republicans Gallup measures, behind Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul but well ahead of Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman.
And, the name recognition isn’t just because of her gaffes. Sure, plenty of people have now heard of Bachmann after she mistakenly stated that the battles of Lexington and Concord took place in New Hampshire, or more recently when she said that John Wayne was from her hometown (when it was really the serial killer John Wayne Gacy), but it’s not just the detractors who have heard of her. The same poll found that Bachmann’s Positive Intensity Score (also known as the percentage of strongly favorable opinions minus the percentage with strongly unfavorable opinions, based on those who recognize her), is tied with pizza magnate Herman Cain for the highest of any candidate at 24.
The poll surveyed at least 1,500 randomly selected Republicans and GOP-leaning independents on each of the candidates over the course of the polling. The margin of error for overall ratings and recognition scores is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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