Republican voters not in love with Romney, Santorum

From Morning Fix @ the Washington Post:

The Ohio presidential primary revealed one key thing about the Republican electorate: They haven’t fallen head over heels for either of the two frontrunning candidates.

While former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senatorRick Santorum finished first and second, respectively, in the Ohio balloting (and won more than 900,000 votes combined) the support for both men, according to an analysis of the exit polling, was far more tepid than you might expect.

Of Romney’s Ohio supporters, 41 percent said they strongly favored the former governor, while 44 percent said they liked him with reservations, and another 13 percent said their vote for him was more driven by dislike for the other candidates

The story was much the same for Santorum, with 41 percent strongly favoring him as compared to 43 percent who liked him with reservations, and another 14 percent who opted for Santorum due to a distaste for their other options.

That means that majorities of those who voted for Romney and Santorum in Ohio did so for a reason other than that they strongly favored their choice. That’s a remarkable finding three months into the Republican nominating contest.

(Both former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul scored far higher on the passion index in Ohio. It’s worth noting, however, that each man received a far smaller share of the vote than either Santorum or Romney.)

The large number of Romney and Santorum voters in Ohio who cast a ballot for one of the two men with genuine reservations about them speaks to a broader lack of enthusiasm toward the GOP field that has permeated this race almost from its start.