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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was the top choice of 29 percent of Republican voters to be the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, according to a new national survey by Rasmussen Reports. Finishing a close second, with support from 24 percent of those polled, was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Also drawing considerable support were former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (18 percent) and former House speaker Newt Gingrich (14 percent). Trailing well behind was Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who was the top choice of just four percent of those surveyed.
While polls this early in the election cycle are likely gauges of name recognition more than solid support, it suggests that Pawlenty has considerable work to do if he’s going to become a household name in national GOP circles. Which might explain why he called into his own radio show this morning from California, where he’s attending the Western Conservative Political Action Conference.
The Rasmussen Reports poll surveyed 750 likely GOP voters across the country and had a sampling error of +/- four percentage points.
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Comment posted October 17, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
Three years before the last election, no one had ever heard of Obama so I don’t see any value in these polls at this time. Huckabee has become a TV celebrity and has greater name recognition than during the primary but does that equate to actual votes in three years? With any luck at all, a fine, deserving leader will emerge just in time.
Comment posted October 17, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
None of these candidates have a chance in 2012. Huckabee won’t run. He seems to be loving his job at fox and he is to conservative to win against Obama. Gingrich is well past his prime, and Palin is perceived as annoying by a majority of the public, except for the Republican base. Pawlenty seems to be the best choice for the GOP, however he does not seem presidential at all. Even though Obama’s approval rating is slipping now, by 2012 the American people will rediscover what they loved in him in 2008. So either Pawlenty better work on his image, or the GOP better start looking for a new and young political superstar to even have a chance in 2012.
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