[CondoleezzaProtege]

Even with all the “other” potential non-has-been contenders, Palin is still by far the best of the bunch.

The only polls that matter are the ones on the dates of the PRIMARIES and then of course the first Tuesday of November, 2012.

However, *if* Palin does intend to run, it will be a huge test to see how well she and her supporters can get organized. This will have to be a 100% grassroots effort, as there will obviously be NO help from the establishment, and everyone in the media lives and breathes to see the day she will be defeated “for good” (according to their book.)

However, with GOD, all things are possible. :)

We shall see what happens!

[arthurus]

In those PRIMARIES there will be a huge number of reregistered Democrats because the Social Democrats will already have their candidate unless Soetoro bows out. That and the obsession with Romney in the top of the Party because it is His Turn will make sure that Romney is the Republican candidate.

[Bigtigermike]

*if* Palin does intend to run, it will be a huge test to see how well she and her supporters can get organized. This will have to be a 100% grassroots effort, as there will obviously be NO help from the establishment, and everyone in the media lives and breathes to see the day she will be defeated “for good”

Going Rogue, pp. 110/11: "In 2005, I was the first Republican to file for governor because I didn't want to play the political "wait your turn in line" game to see if Murkowski, the incumbent, would seek reelection.I knew I wouldn't have the backing of the party machine anyway, so my reliance on a grassroots effort required an early edge before the other guys started lining up.In the primary, I was running against Governor Murkowski, of course, and his friend Randy Ruedrich was still the state GOP chairman - a bad omen to some but to us a motivating challenge. To win the primary, I'd have to go through both of them. It also meant we'd have no backing from the state party. I found my underdog status and the outsider label quite liberating. If there were only a few politicians bold enough to hook up with us, that was fine too. We built a network of nonpolitical, hardworking Alaskans who were tired of politicians bending with the wind."

[truthguy]

The only polls that matter are the ones on the dates of the PRIMARIES and then of course the first Tuesday of November, 2012.

Yes and for crying out loud let's not get ahead of ourselves. November 2010 is the important thing now. There will be plenty of time starting in mid 2011 to start thinking about Nov 2012. Let's put our energy into November 2010.

[Christian_Capitalist]

There's another "Has Been" they didn't include in this poll, and that's Ron Paul. He's not very popular with a lot of Republicans, but he did consistently poll around 10% in the last GOP Presidential Primaries. (Not to mention 81% in his own District GOP Primary).

But Ron Paul is really too old to run again; he does well enough representing his district in the Congress, anyway. Rand Paul, however, is young -- still in his forties -- and will likely inherit de facto leadership of the Paul faction.

And I think it's safe to assume that Senator Rand Paul will throw that support towards Sarah Palin, because:

• 1.) They actually do have similar political instincts and sentiments on a great many issues; and:
• 2.) Let's face it, Rand Paul owes Governor Palin big-time. Rand was gaining strength for a few months on his own, closing with or even nudging ahead of Grayson in some polls; but it was Palin's endorsement as much as anything that just blasted his lead through the roof in the last few weeks -- now up 15% on Grayson and climbing...

So, like I said -- I think that you can figure on Senator Rand Paul probably (not for certain, but probably) throwing most of his dad's Primary supporters to Sarah Palin, and so just add 8-10% to her totals in each of these polls. Paul's 2008 supporters may not be backing anyone yet en masse, but I personally think that most will end up throwing their support to Palin, as the most "libertarian Republican" (or at least "small-government federalist", anyway) candidate available in 2012.

In which case, her share of these early (way too early) preference polls would be in at least a strong second place in a bunch of these States.