Gallup: Romney, Palin Lead A Smaller 2012 GOP Field

Gov. Palin's number have increased by 5 points since the last Gallup Poll
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In the first Gallup poll conducted since Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, and Mitch Daniels all decided not to run for the presidency, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin lead the field of Republican candidates and likely candidates:

Mitt Romney (17%) and Sarah Palin (15%) now lead a smaller field of potential Republican presidential candidates in rank-and-file Republicans' preferences for the party's 2012 nominee. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain essentially tie for third, with Cain registering 8% support in his initial inclusion in Gallup "trial heat" polling. Notably, 22% of Republicans do not have a preference at this point.

The survey of 971 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was conducted May 20-24, 2011. The two-point difference between former governors Romney and Palin are within the poll's four-point margin of sampling error, putting them in a statistical tie for the poll's lead. Since the last Gallup Poll was taken, Gov. Palin's numbers have increased by 5 percent and Gov. Romney's by 4 percent, show them as the two Republicans who have benefited most from the decisions by Huckabee, Trump, and Daniels to forgo the race.

Some polls conducted by left-leaning newspapers and television networks and heavily touted by those media outlets had placed Gov. Palin well down in the pack in recent months. But her performance in more reliable surveys such as this Gallup Poll give a more accurate indication of her true political strength among rank and file Republicans.

h/t: M. Joseph Sheppard

- JP