Republicans: Palin is prospective GOP candidate most like Reagan

"Palin's big advantage is the perception that she is not a typical politician."
*
Although Gov. Palin has not announced her candidacy, her poll numbers are improving, and not just among Republicans. Her numbers are also ticking up with Americans overall. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll, more Republicans see Sarah Palin as being more like Ronald Reagan than any other potential candidates for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

From the PDF document containing the survey's findings:

30. Thinking about the complete list of candidates who may be running for the Republican nomination, please tell me whether you would describe any of them as another Ronald Reagan –- that is, someone who inspires in you the same amount of confidence and enthusiasm that you feel when you think about how Reagan handled his job while he was president?

31. (IF YES) Who do you feel that way about?

QUESTIONS 30 AND 31 COMBINED

June 3-7 2011
No GOP candidate (from Q.30) 43%
Sarah Palin 16%
Rudy Giuliani 15%
Mitt Romney 13%
Herman Cain 7%
Michele Bachmann 5%
Newt Gingrich 5%
Ron Paul 5%
Tim Pawlenty 2%
Jon Huntsman 1%
Rick Santorum 1%
Someone else (vol.) *
No opinion 2%

Other findings from the survey:

The poll also indicates that the two best-known potential GOP presidential hopefuls - Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani - are also the ones with the highest favorable rating among Republicans.

"That may explain why they feel they can wait before throwing their hats in the ring," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

[...]

Palin's big advantage is the perception that she is not a typical politician. Seven in 10 Republicans feel that way about the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. Most of those questioned see Romney as a typical politician.

Eight in 10 say that Palin agrees with them on issues that they care about the most. A respectable 64 percent feel the same way about Romney, but that still gives Palin an advantage on issues, and on values as well - nearly eight in 10 say that she represent the values of Republicans like themselves.

Gov. Palin's favorable ratings are up 4 points since CNN last polled on the question April 29-May 1, 2011, while her unfavorables have improved, down 7 percentage points.

h/t: Henry D'Andrea

- JP