Donald Trump may be leading a wide field of potential Republican presidential candidates in the polls, but he has little chance of actually reaching the White House, a new poll showed Tuesday.
Some 64 percent of general election voters -- including 46 percent of Republican voters -- would "definitely not vote for" the reality television star, according to a USA Today/Gallup survey. That was the second-worst showing by any potential Republican candidate, behind only former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who 65 percent of the voters said they would not consider voting for.
Fifty percent of voters, including 31 percent of Republicans, said Trump would be a "poor" or "terrible" president.
Trump has shot to the top of the primary polls in recent weeks. A series of surveys, including one from Gallup, showed him leading among Republican voters over other presumptive candidates such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
He has been buoyed by tough talk on international economic issues and his persistent questioning of President Barack Obama's birth certificate, an issue that has been avoided by nearly all mainstream Republican politicians.
The poll Tuesday showed that Trump himself has not escaped scrutiny as to where he was born. Only 43 percent of voters said Trump was definitely born in the US, and 7 percent said he definitely or probably was born in another country. Only 38 percent of those surveyed said Obama was definitely born in the US.
The president is facing some strong headwinds himself in his bid for a second term, the poll showed, with some 46 percent of general election voters saying they would "definitely not vote for" him in 2012. That is equal to the numbers for Huckabee and one percentage point higher than Romney, who is one of the only Republicans to have officially formed a presidential exploratory committee
In a telephone interview with FOX News Channel last week, the 64-year-old Trump hinted heavily that he would run.
"In my own mind, I think I've made a decision," he said.
If he announces his candidacy before the May 22 finale of his "Celebrity Apprentice" show, he could run afoul of federal law mandating equal time for candidates on broadcast networks.
In the meantime, Trump has been busy planning trips to a slew of crucial early-voting states. He is set to begin a tour of New Hampshire on Wednesday, to be followed by a speech in Las Vegas Thursday and a fundraising dinner next month in Iowa.
The USA Today/Gallup survey had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
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