Gingrich gets low positive rating in poll

PRINCETON, N.J., May 11 (UPI) -- Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich enters the Republican presidential primary race with high recognition but a low positive rating, a poll indicates.

Gallup's April 25-May 8 tracking poll of 13 GOP hopefuls has Gingrich with a current overall recognition score of 84 percent but his "Positive Intensity Score" of 11 is well below the average of 13 for all potential Republican candidates, Gallup said Wednesday.

Gallup calculates its "Positive Intensity Score" for each candidate based on the difference between strongly favorable and strongly unfavorable opinions among those polled who are familiar with a candidate.

The May 8 poll has former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with the highest Positive Intensity Score of 24 and an overall recognition score of 85 percent.

Gallup said the tracking poll was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,500 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, aged 18 or older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.