Huckabee dominates Iowa caucus poll; T-Paw barely registers

Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Photo: Facebook

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa Caucuses, is still the leading choice in the Hawkeye State today among 2012 presidential hopefuls, according to a poll by The Iowa Republican blog. Presumed presidential hopeful, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, barely registered among caucus-goers.

The poll, conducted by Washington, D.C.,-based Voter Consumer Research, found Huckabee garnering 22 percent of support to 18 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received 14 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin placed fourth with 11 percent. Other likely candidates, such as Minnesota Pawlenty, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, barely registered in the poll.

The results are similar to another poll conducted in May by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, which found Huckabee winning with 27 percent compared to Palin’s 17 percent,  Gingrich’s 16 percent, Romney’s 15 percent, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s 7 percent.

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza concludes that these early polls are more or less just a reflection of who is already well known in Iowa.

Given the findings — and the fact that the 2012 campaign has yet to begin in earnest — the poll is right understood as, basically, a name identification test. Huckabee and Romney finished one-two in the Iowa Republican caucuses in 2008 and so it’s no surprise that they hold down those same spots in the new poll.

It should be some comfort to the Pawlentys and Barbours of the world then that just a few years ago neither Romney nor Huckabee moved the needle in Iowa either.

With the Iowa State Fair currently underway, Gingrich and Pawlenty have already made visits to Iowa, with Santorum scheduled to return this week.