Gallup takes an early look at potential Republican contenders for 2012. Mike Huckabee, who doesn’t get the press coverage of a Sarah Palin, seems to be in the best shape:
As general election contenders, however, this crew all seems to be in bad shape:
Of course what looking at these polls doesn’t tell you is whether the answers to these questions this far out have any real predictive value. My guess would be that the answer is no, and that if Huckabee became the Republican nominee and the economy continues to be in bad shape that he’d win notwithstanding the tendency of a majority of Americans to say they wouldn’t even consider voting for him. That said, this definitely does underscore the basic fact that much as the conservative base may love Sarah Palin, the broader public hates her. Maybe—maybe—a Palin nomination would break the rule that the fundamentals matter most to presidential election outcomes.
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