Less than a month before the Iowa caucuses, Michele Bachmann remains in the single digits in the state, according to two polls released this weekend.
In a Des Moines Register poll, Bachmann checks in at 8 percent, behind Newt Gingrich (25 percent), Ron Paul (18 percent) and Mitt Romney (16 percent). The poll was conducted before Herman Cain dropped out of the presidential race, but he tied Bachmann at 8 percent.
Iowa voters have seen Bachmann more than any other candidate (20 percent reported having seen her in person), but she’s the most least-liked candidate in the race (15 percent). She’s the second choice of 11 percent of voters.
The Register poll also asked respondents to choose which candidates best fit a series of attributes. Voters see Bachmann as the most socially conservative (27 percent) and the second most principled (17, behind Paul) and likeable (17, after Romney). She was also seen as the second-least knowledgeable (24 percent, behind Cain), and only 1 percent of respondents said she was the most experienced in the race.
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Bachmann was at 8 percent the last time the Register polled, in October, and was at 22 percent in its June poll. Here’s the Register’s recap of her results:
Bachmann, winner of the Iowa straw poll in August, has maintained her support since October, but that’s a steep drop-off compared with June, when she polled at 22 percent, second only to Romney’s 23 percent.
Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, is the candidate more likely caucusgoers have seen than any other, at 20 percent.
In the least-liked contest, Bachmann gets the blue ribbon. Romney shares her company, with 15 percent.
Women dislike her more than any other candidate (19 percent).
Where Bachmann leads is in her reputation for opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage: 27 percent say she is the most socially conservative. That’s the only category she leads of the 13 positive attributes tested.
Elsewhere, Bachmann is at 5 percent among likely Iowa caucusgoers in an NBC-Marist poll, behind Gingrich (26 percent), Romney (18 percent), Paul (17 percent), Cain (9 percent) and Rick Perry (9 percent). She is the third most popular second choice, at 12 percent.
Of all the candidates pitted against Obama in the state, she is beaten by the largest margin — 55-31.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dhenry
