Romney continues to lead in NH
Mitt Romney continues to look like an overwhelming early favorite for the 2012 New Hampshire primary but the most surprising thing about our newest set of numbers there may be that Ron Paul's in third place, outpolling Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin (albeit by small margins.) Romney leads the way with 31% to 14% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Paul, 12% for Huckabee, 9% for Palin, 3% for Tim Pawlenty, and 1% for Mitch Daniels. Observations from the numbers: -Among voters who are more likely to...

Poll: Mitt Romney up big in New Hampshire, Sarah Palin 26 points behind
Mitt Romney is way ahead of the rest of the Republican contenders for the 2012 nomination in a New Hampshire poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP), winning with 39 percent of registered Republican voters, 26 points ahead of second place Sarah Palin's 13 percent. Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich tied for third in the poll with 11 percent each, while Ron Paul comes in fifth, preferred by 7 percent of poll respondents.  "[A]nd if anyone out of the unlikely trio of Tim Pawlenty, Haley...

Netroots Nation Wants to Face Palin in 2012
The Netroots Nation has spoken, according to this unofficial Poll : If former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin decides to jump into the 2012 presidential race, Liberals would be thrilled, an unofficial Poll released today shows. In a Straw Poll of attendees at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas over the weekend, 48 percent of respondents said they'd like to see Palin as the Republican Party's 2012 nominee. Rep. Ron Paul came in a distant second, at 11 percent. Ten percent voted for Rick...

Minn.'s Pawlenty: A contender to reshape GOP's 2012 image
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has little of the star power of Sarah Palin . He has not been around the Presidential track in the way of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee . He does not have the political network of Haley Barbour . He is not a provocateur of ideas like Newt Gingrich . None of that seems to bother him as he weighs whether to seek the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination. He thinks he has something others don't have, which is the capacity to help put a more appealing face on a...

Santorum huddles with former aides to talk 2012
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby Former . Rick Santorum met privately last week with several of his former Capitol Hill Staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential Bid in 2012. Washington (CNN) - As if the repeated trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina weren't clues enough, former Republican . Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania met privately last week with several of his former Capitol Hill Staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential Bid in 2012. According to GOP sources...

Gingrich says he's considering presidential run (AP)
Gingrich has been mentioned as a possible 2012 Presidential Candidate along with other Republicans, including former vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Gingrich had a long congressional career and was House Speaker from 1995 to 1999. He was given much of the credit for the Republican takeover of the House in 1994. But he abruptly resigned from Congress in 1998 after his party faired poorly in Midterm Elections. He also...

My finger on the Gingrich lever? (A hypothetical doomsday scenario which gives me nightmares...)
My finger on the Gingrich lever? (A hypothetical doomsday scenario which gives me nightmares...) Last night I looked at this scary chart , and I had trouble sleeping: While it's nice to see that Sarah Palin is number one, my concern is seeing that a man who has stated he wants Singapore-style Drug Law Enforcement for the United States is in the position of being a serious contender for the presidency. If Sarah Palin were to bow Out, I think Gingrich would have it. That's because Romney...

Poll launches Mitt Romney as GOP 'front-runner'
F ormer Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney is a “major player” nipping at the heels of President Obama and stands as the GOP’s best shot to reclaim the Oval Office in 2012, a New National Poll shows. “In many ways, he’s arguably the establishment front-runner,” pollster John Zogby said of a New Poll showing Romney trailing President Obama by just 2 percentage points. “He’s got name recognition, he’s been through it before, and he did credibly in...

Palin running fifth in New Hampshire poll
Someone else/Undecided   16% Note that Huckabee is essentially where he was in the '08 primary, when he nabbed 11% -- good for a very distant third place behind Romney and John McCain. This showing helped slow the momentum that Huckabee had earned by winning the Iowa caucuses; he was never expected to win New Hampshire, but by running so far back, he encouraged the media to treat him as a Candidate with limited cultural and geographic appeal. If Palin can't do significantly...

2012 Watch: Jeb Bush Says He's Out, Rick Santorum Pitches Run
Jeb Bush (Credit: Getty Images/Dennis Brack) The jockeying over which Republican will take on President Obama in 2012 is in full swing, with some likely Candidates (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty) taking all the traditional steps to set up a run while other potential challengers test the waters. One Republican who has generated considerable speculation inside Washington is former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush and son of President George H.W. Bush. Bush has become...

Political Wisdom: The Race to 2012
By Susan Davis Election Day 2010 may be four months away, but is it ever too soon to start speculating about 2012? Washington Wire doesn’t think so! John Bresnahan at Politico takes a look at North Dakota Republican . John Thune , whose beefing up his political travel and policy bonafides with a proposal out today to overhaul the congressional Budget process: Thune's political travel and his efforts to make a name for himself on budgetary matters has his Senate colleagues, both...

Obama’s Suddenly Dramatically Changed Church Attendance Claims
Tags: Barack Obama , Bill Richardson , Chris Dodd , Fred Thompson , Hillary Clinton , Horserace , Joe Biden , John Edwards , John McCain , Mike Huckabee , Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich , Rudy Giuliani , Sarah Palin , Something Lighter , Tommy Thompson Egads. Obama spins terribly. At the American Thinker , Ed Lasky notes this recent statement in Newsweek : As young marrieds, Barack and Michelle (who also didn’t go to church regularly as a child) went to church fairly...

2012 Florida/Nevada GOP numbes
Mitt Romney's the favorite at this early stage in a couple key Republican Primary states: Florida and Nevada. Romney won the Nevada caucuses in his 2008 bid and he would again if the vote was being held today. 34% of Nevada Republican voters say they prefer Romney to 28% for Newt Gingrich. Sarah Palin at 16%, Mike Huckabee at 11%, and Ron Paul at 7% poll much further back. Romney came up just short in Florida last time, but for now Republicans in the state prefer him to the other leading...

Netroots Nation straw poll: Lefties overwhelmingly want to face Palin in 2012
Did someone here order the red meat ? In a Straw Poll of attendees at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas over the weekend, 48 percent of respondents said they’d like to see Palin as the Republican Party’s 2012 nominee. Rep. Ron Paul came in a distant second, at 11 percent. Ten percent voted for Rick Santorum, 9 percent for Mitt Romney and 8 percent for Newt Gingrich. Seven percent chose Tim Pawlenty, while 5 percent said Mike Huckabee, and 1 percent said Rep. Mike...

Netroots Opinion: "Run, Sarah, Run" And Other Findings
This weekend the annual gathering of the progressive cyber-tribes, Netroots Nation, convened in Las Vegas, and for the occasion, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research conducted a Straw Poll of attendees on various topics. Since this is probably the single largest gathering of intensely progressive Political Activists in the country (91% of them self-identify as either "liberal" or "progressive," with 9% as "moderates"), the results of the Straw Poll are pretty interesting, and don't necessarily...

The States and the Stimulus
A few governors, such as Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Rick Perry of Texas, had the foresight to turn down their share of the $7 Billion for Unemployment Insurance, realizing that once the federal funds run out, benefits would be unpayable. "One of the smartest decisions we made," says Mr. Daniels. Many governors now probably wish they had done the same. Second, Stimulus dollars came with strings attached that are now causing enormous Budget Headaches. Many environmental grants have matching...

The Un-Obama Governors
Gov. Chris Christie continues to earn kudos from Conservatives and Liberals alike. Gov. Bob McDonnell has a 64 percent approval after less than a year as Virginia’s Governor. Both Christie and McDonnell are garnering praise for doing what

Pawlenty: 2012 will come down to credibility and emotional connection
It’s still too early to start picking sides for the 2012 Republican nomination, but Tim Pawlenty points out an interesting conundrum likely to occur in the primaries.

Thune
Anyway, I asked Mr. Duncan what he thought about the upcoming election, and he was upbeat. He told me that he hasn't seen this kind of excitement from the Republican Base since 1994. He said that each year he hosts a big event for his campaign in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn. He typically gets around 500 to show up, but in 1994, Newt Gingrich drew 1,200. This year, he told me he invited John Thune. And guess what? Thune is expected to match Newt's total from 16 years ago. John Thune is...

Santorum's Classless Society
"I'm not a Class-warfare guy," Santorum tells National Review Online in reaction to Pawlenty's remarks. "That's the Democrats' gig. They like to divide and play the Class card. We don't have classes in America - I don't even like the term 'Middle Class.' People are lower Income or Middle Income, and the dynamism of this country is that you can rise, and sometimes fall, but you are not stuck in classes [bold mine-DL]. We should not get into that kind of Rhetoric, or...

Liberals Want Sarah Palin to Be 2012 GOP Nominee, Survey Says
(Credit: AP) If former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin decides to jump into the 2012 Presidential race, Liberals would be thrilled, an unofficial Poll released today shows. In a Straw Poll of attendees at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas over the weekend, 48 percent of respondents said they'd like to see Palin as the Republican Party's 2012 nominee. Rep. Ron Paul came in a distant second, at 11 percent. Ten percent voted for Rick Santorum, 9 percent for Mitt Romney and 8 percent for Newt...

It's A Landslide! Netroots Want Sarah Palin To Run For President
Well, it's official. Progressive Democrats want President Obama to face off against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2012 as the battle for the ages. An early release of the Netroots Nation Straw Poll taken from Thursday through Sunday and obtained by TPM shows that attendees of the convention in Las Vegas overwhelmingly want Palin to mount a presidential bid. Respondents were asked who would they "most like to see" as the GOP nominee to challenge Obama for Reelection two years from now....

Pawlenty: Appealing to Swing Voters Will Be Key in 2012
By Peter Wallsten Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty , one of several Republicans pondering a 2012 White House bid, said Monday that the party's nomination contest would be waged over personality traits more than policy

Today's Most Popular Stories 07.27.10
Each day, Ashley Estill surfs your sites for the most popular stories of the day. Here are the top headlines for July 27, 2010: Washington Post: House approves $37 Billion war-funding bill Washington Times: No news is still bad news in leaks of Afghan reports Washington Examiner: Dems fear GOP Oversight of Obama Administration USA Today: Longtime Oakland Raiders defender Jack Tatum dies at 61 CQ Politics: Cantor Crosses Million Mark The Hill: Party turns screws on Rangel Politico:...

2012 Watch: Jeb's Out, Rick Santorum Pitches Run
numSlides of totalImages The jockeying over which Republican will take on President Obama in 2012 is in full swing, with some likely Candidates (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty) taking all the traditional steps to set up a run while other potential challengers test the waters. One Republican who has generated considerable speculation inside Washington is former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush and son of President George H.W. Bush. Bush has become more politically active...