With about a year and a half to go before the first Republican caucuses and primaries in 2012, a new set of numbers from Public Policy Polling (D) shows that none of the big names have yet come to dominate the field, with a different candidate leading in each of three states.
“The story in our 2012 Republican polling continues to be that there is no one approaching front runner status,” writes PPP president Dean Debnam.
â¢Â In Iowa, where Mike Huckabee won the 2008 caucus, Huckabee continues to lead with 27%, followed by Sarah Palin at 17%, Newt Gingrich with 16%, Mitt Romney at 15%, Ron Paul 7%, and John Thune and Jim DeMint at 2% each. The poll has a ±4.5% margin of error.
â¢Â In Michigan, where native son Mitt Romney won the 2008 primary, Romney leads the pack with 37%, Palin has 24%, Gingrich 16%, Huckabee 12%, and Paul 6%. The poll has a ±5.1% margin of error.
â¢Â In South Carolina, where John McCain narrowly defeated Mike Huckabee in 2008, Gingrich has 25% to Romney’s 24%, Palin 22%, Huckabee 19%, and Paul 7%. Testing Sen. Jim DeMint asa candidate in his home state, he leads the race — but only with a plurality of 21%, with Gingrich and Romney at 16% each, Huckabee and Palin 15% each, and Paul 7%. The poll has a ±3.9% margin of error.
All of these potential candidates have been active in different ways. They have all had book tours, for one thing. Mike Huckabee is mainly occupied as a Fox News personality these days — a good audience of GOP voters — Romney has been criticizing Obama’s economic policies, and Gingrich has been campaigning against Obama’s “secular-socialist machine.” And of course, Palin maintains a constant media presence on Fox News, Facebook and elsewhere.
