by Mark Silva
In the political field, any poll taken far away from Election Day is a game of name-recognition.
And this is as close to far-away as one can get from the presidential election of 2012.
So what do Republicans say about election?
Palin. Huckabee. Romney.
Asked by Opinion Research Corp. and CNN to name the Republican whom they would be most likely to support in '12, Republicans lined up with:
-- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: 29%
-- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: 26%
-- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: 21%
-- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: 9%
-- Someone else: 10%
Notice that none of the three hold any sort of commanding lead for the attention of Republicans surveyed about a potential contest with President Barack Obama, seeking reelection three-plus years from now. And notice that "the rising star'' of the GOP, Louisiana's Jindal, is a single-digit contender in this survey.
But remember, too, that Obama was a distant runner-up in the early polling of the 2008 campaign that portrayed Hillary Rodham Clinton as the leading contender. And on the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani of New York was a big name in the early polls, only to fizzle when he faced his party's primaries.
And Huckabee had little visible means of support until he gained enough steam in Iowa's caucuses to carry him through the longest stretch that any candidate survived in competition with the eventual nominee, Sen. John McCain.
Indeed, this early survey of Republican attitudes for all three of the names mentioned here - Palin, the party's nominee for vice president last year, Huckabee, the one who made the primaries fun, and Romney, ho spent a personal fortune on a failed campaign - may, in the long run, represent their high-water lines in the campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination.
This survey was run Feb. 18-19, carries a three-percentage point margin of error and someday will make for useful party fodder.
Comments
Gotta get by Palin's "squeeky, slightly irritating voice", hard to listen to. She needs to run for senate.
Like:
Ryan from Wisconsin
Cantor from Virginia
Huckabee too much personality
LIKE Romney -religion should be no problem after the Obama's black liberation church.
Like the governor from South Carolina- Mark Sanford
And the Oklahoma guy, Tom Coburn
Change the composition of the senate and congress vote in 2010.
Even like Judd Gregg.
FL governor Charlie Crist is not dependable.
Resounding NO to Mitch and Boehner,
Want to see and hear new faces and voices.
Posted by: kaine | February 27, 2009 2:15 PM
-- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: 29%
-- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: 26%
-- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: 21%
-- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: 9%
-- Someone else: 10%
--Grumpy: 6%
--Sneezy: 4.6%
--Doc: 2 and 1/3rd%
Posted by: bill r. | February 27, 2009 2:24 PM
What a bunch of idiots..
Sarah the Pageant Queen is their top pick?!?!...ha ha ha!
I'm surpised Joe the Plunger isn't on their list.
Posted by: Hulk Smash! | February 27, 2009 2:39 PM
Do they actually WANT the joke that their party has become to CONTINUE??? Maybe it's just me, but I've never heard anyone use "also" and "too" back-to-back in a sentence and she (as we all know) couldn't name ONE newspaper she reads. If these people think someone's gonna get elected because of how they LOOK, how pathetic. (and she's NOT a raving beauty...maybe they all need to get their eyes examined!!!)
Posted by: Mary | February 27, 2009 3:06 PM
It must REALLY suck to be a Republican these days.
Posted by: Pirate | February 27, 2009 3:36 PM
Good -- that'll be the end of her career.
Posted by: Smokey | February 27, 2009 4:02 PM
Palin is obviously the most popular, as she demonstrated over and over by drawing tens of thousands to hear her speech, a sharp contrast to McCain who was a drag on the ticket. Even so, the smooth, articulate, accomplished Romney is a better choice for president with Palin, after a stint in the Senate, as vice president. Of course, by then, Obama will have bankrupted the country so it's a question whether anyone will want to run.
Posted by: Filmore | February 27, 2009 4:48 PM
Now all they need to do is toss in Rick Santorum and the exhumed remains of Barry Goldwater and they'll be on the comeback trail!
Posted by: Doug | February 27, 2009 5:13 PM
Who said there is going to be another election? Let me say this as simply as I can, "There aren't going to be anymore elections".
Posted by: Rob | February 27, 2009 5:31 PM
My vote is for Kenneth the Page to lead the Repuglican party out of the crap hole that they're in right now.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfCK-1BgPTo
.
Posted by: Alex | February 27, 2009 6:00 PM
Stillsore, don't you think they both were a drag on the ticket.....they lost bad!!!! Grampy carried the military folks and the old people, which are both big parts of the demographics. I hope Palin gets the nod, as it will surely be the end of the party. They can at least say they went out with style.
Mary, quite being catty. You probably could not win a beauty contest so do not stoop down to their level or I will call you out hard on it next time.
Posted by: Xcellentform | February 27, 2009 6:40 PM
If any of them are the answer, the Republicans are asking the wrong question.
Run any of these guys and I'll be sitting back and looking forward to Obama's second term.
Posted by: Tom J | February 27, 2009 7:27 PM
Mittster or Jebster, I'd say.
They'll hope economy will continue to falter and then advance Mittster or Jebster or both as "can do B school" types.
Posted by: ornery | February 27, 2009 8:00 PM
After Bobby Jindal's disastrous GOP response to Obama's speech this week, his 9% must have come down to 3% the other 6% went for Palin. Sarah Palin is heading to be the first woman nominated for US president and this is scaring Obama supporters. If Palin gets the nomination the whole nation will go nuts for this historic even that will be bigger event than the Obama presidency.
Jindal will not be the GOP Obama. Sarah Palin has overwhelming conservative and republican support. She will win the first 3 primaries and caucuses. No male GOP nominee could defeat Obama but Sarah Palin will shatter that glass ceiling in 2012.
Posted by: Carmelo Junior | February 28, 2009 12:49 PM
How regrettable is this American habit of using name-recognition and notoriety as sustitutions for quality and competence. We have made celebrities of, e.g., Palin and Octomom, who, thanks to the media, have become household names, --one step ahead in the campaign for success. I put them both in the same boat
Posted by: lori | March 4, 2009 8:13 PM