CNN Poll Has Huckabee and Palin Leading Potential 2012 GOP Presidential Picks

From LifeNews
By Steven Ertelt

The third major poll since the elections to survey Republican voters on their preference for a presidential candidate in 2012 finds Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin topping the list. Palin led in the two previous polls while Huckabee finished in the top three along with Mitt Romney.

The CNN poll asked Republicans to pick from among a group of several candidates and Huckabee received the support of 34 percent of the Republicans and Republican-leaning voters in the poll.

Palin garnered 32 percent while Romney placed third with 28 percent.

Looking at other candidates, former House Speaker New Gingrich gets 27 percent, 23 percent back pro-abortion former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gets 19 percent.

Oddly enough, the CNN poll finds Palin doing better with men while Huckabee fares better with women.

“It might come as a surprise to some that Palin does better than Huckabee among GOP men but that Huckabee beats Palin among Republican women,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Palin's strength is also concentrated among older Republicans, but Huckabee may have a slight edge among conservative Republicans."

Huckabee has a 9 percentage point lead with evangelical Republicans while Palin leads by 7 with those who are not evangelicals.

A November Zogby poll found 24.4 percent said Palin was their top choice to face Obama in 2012. Romney came in second with the support of 18 percent, Jindal placed third with 15.6 percent, Huckabee came fourth with 9.7 percent, and 8.2 percent of Republicans said someone else was their top choice.

The Zogby poll found Palin stealing Huckabee's thunder among Republican religious conservatives and working class voters. Huckabee's highest GOP totals still come from born-again Christians (15%) and weekly churchgoers (18%), but those numbers are about half of those drawn by Palin.

The Zogby survey follows a Gallup poll LifeNews.com reported on showing Palin leading and Romney and Huckabee second and third.

Gallup interviewed Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and asked whether certain potential candidates should run or not.

Some 67 percent of Republicans said Palin should run, helping her top the list. Another 62 percent wanted to see Romney run, and 61 percent favored Huckabee.

The rest of the potential names came in at under 50 percent, in some cases because they are not as well known. Jindal received the backing of 34 percent of Republicans but his numbers were low because 30 percent of GOP voters had no opinion and are apparently not familiar with him.