Even if Mitt Romney has become a sad, Costco-shopping ghost of the shellacked presidential candidate we used to know — and a boxing fan, apparently — he will forever be haunted by the number 47. This time, the gods of irony have smiled once again and played with a new Politico poll: only 47 percent of likely voters now view Romney and Paul Ryan favorably. No, we're not sure why Politico and George Washington University are still asking voters about Romney when it seems like there's no way he's running for anything anymore. (He's already got a new job.) And it's not like we'd care that much if Romney had an abysmal, Rick Perry-like rating or if it were sky-high. But it's a hard number to ignore, not unlike Romney's final tally of 47 percent of the popular vote, because it's a stark reminder of the impact of the 47 percent comment, which over the weekend was named "quote of the year" by an annual Yale University survey.
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One other shocking number to note from the Politico poll: 36 percent of people don't know who Marco Rubio is. As in GOP front-runner Marco Rubio. That's a number, just like 47, that Republicans and Rubio don't want sticking should he garner the nomination in 2016.