Fool's errand? Beats playing Microsoft Solitaire...

Josh Putnam at Frontloading HQ tracks the potential major presidential candidates for 2012 by the number of Google searches done on their names. He has all sorts of charts and graphs which show different snapshots in time.

Gov. Palin still leads the pack, but that lead in March wasn't as big as it had been in prior months. Putnam says:

This Palin trend is one worth tracking. Her potential candidacy is one that could spur a huge grassroots effort. It is also true that latent grassroots support turned active could make her decision as to whether to enter the presidential race in 2012 that much easier. Still, her success will be measured by the extent to which the Alaska governor is able to, as I've said already, stay in the news and remain politically relevant. No one excites the Republican base better than Palin at the moment, but that excitement has to be met with the construction of some national level policy bona fides without which she'll be hard-pressed to convince Republicans mindful of her chances in the general election that she can win. That, though, is a story for another day.

While the volume of Google searches would seem to be more a measure if interest than support, name recognition is always a critical factor when the feasibility of a presidential run is being considered.

But we're still in the early innings of this game.

- JP