Three GOPers Are Polling At 0 Percent

When it comes to poll numbers, especially in a highly competitive election cycle like the one we're in now, we always seem to focus on who's winning and who's almost winning. But it turns out that some surprising things are happening at the other end of Fox News's most recent poll. As of Wednesday, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham are all polling at 0 percent, which means they've all fallen even lower than Jim Gilmore, who didn't even participate in last week's Republican debate.

CNN excluded Gilmore from both of its debates — primetime and happy hour — because he had garnered less than 1 percent of support in the polls. As a result, he missed out on the opportunity to have his voice heard by millions of Americans. You'd think at this point, there'd be no good news for a guy in that situation. I mean let's face it: Even Scott Walker had more support in the polls than that when he dropped out of the race altogether Monday. Yet somehow, some way, Gilmore is not in last place in the Republican field. He still has less than 1 percent of the vote, but compared to Santorum, Jindal, and Graham, Gilmore is still in this thing.

The Fox News poll lists Santorum, Jindal, and Graham in a three-way tie at the bottom with 0 percent of the vote. Along with George Pataki, all three of them participated in CNN's "happy hour" debate prior to the primetime debate among the top 11 candidates. Judging by these new poll numbers, their performances didn't resonate with many viewers.

The new poll numbers are also interesting for making predictions about the campaign field that lies ahead. Walker dropped out earlier this week and Rick Perry bowed out right before last week's debate. It's likely that other candidates will begin to review their options and reconsider their campaigns in coming weeks. When CNN excluded Gilmore from the debate stage, he seemed like he'd be the next one on the chopping block, but the new numbers would suggest that Santorum, Graham, and Jindal have slightly more reason to drop out.

Granted, polls aren't always the most reliable measurements. After all, President Obama was long considered an underdog when he ran for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton. In the same way, John McCain was considered to be in the second tier of candidates leading up to the Republican primary in 2008. As of July 2007, he only had 17 percent of the vote according to the polls, yet he managed to win the nomination just months later.

So, on one hand, you can't always believe the polls. But on the other, these guys don't even register. Certainly, the larger field in this election means that all candidates, even the frontrunners, have a smaller share of the vote than we're used to seeing, however it still seems unlikely that any candidate could come back from a 0 percent share of support.

For his part, Graham has assured voters that he has no plans to drop out of the race any time soon. Similarly, Jindal and Santorum both suggested that they planned to stay in the race through at least the Iowa caucus. With a combined share of a whopping 0 percent, these three have a long way to go before Iowa.