Kevin Hall: Palin returns to Iowa as GOP frontrunner

Des Moines Conservative Examiner Kevin Hall opines:

There are no polls to prove it yet, but Sarah Palin is the new frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Mike Huckabee's admission that he is "less than likely" to run, followed by the disastrous news of his commutation of Maurice Clemmons prison sentence in Arkansas, leaves Palin at the front of the pack.

Two weeks ago, an Iowa poll showed Palin trailing Huckabee by just two points, 70% to 68%, in favorability ratings among Iowa Republicans. She easily outdistanced Mitt Romney, who garnered only 58 percent. Despite a media onslaught attempting to spin the Clemmons story, Huckabee's credibility has taken a serious hit. Even those who boosted him to victory in the 2008 Iowa Caucus are questioning the former Arkansas governor's judgment.

That means Sarah Palin is the new frontrunner in Iowa. A victory here could vault her to the GOP nomination.

Read Hall's complete Examiner op-ed here.

- JP