Super Tuesday: Who would you buy a car from? Voters say Santorum

If Ann Romney ever needs to shed one of her two Cadillacs -- wealth can come and go, she said earlier this week, so you never know -- she might not want to ask her husband to hawk the excess vehicle.

A poll conducted among Republicans in the 10 Super Tuesday states found that only 46% of respondents would be happy buying a second-hand car from Mitt Romney, while 47% said they would not buy one from the GOP front-runner.

But if Rick Santorum’s presidential primary campaign sputters out tonight, he might be well received in a new line of work. The poll found that 60% of Super Tuesday Republicans would be happy to buy a used vehicle from the former Pennsylvania senator.

The poll was conducted among Republican voters by IBOPE Zogby for Craigslist. Susan Best, a spokeswoman for the classifieds website, attributed Romney’s poor showing in the poll to his reputation for “flip-flopping.” But respondents to the poll might also have been worried about buying a vehicle used in an infamous case of rooftop dog transportation.

“Would you buy a used car from this man?” was first asked of a politician in 1960 when an outside group ran the slogan under a close-up picture of Richard Nixon’s face.

“But it’s a good one to ask of any politician,” Best said. “It’s not just a good test of public trust but also a wise precaution now that you could actually find yourself buying a car from one on craigslist.”

Ian.duncan@latimes.com