Source: Associated Press
Odd as it might seem, given that her favorability ratings are not that high, the former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is now within the margin of error of the lead in many polls, indicating she very well could be the preferred 2012 presidential candidate of the Republican Party. How did that happen? How did the polarizing conservative firebrand move from a steady fourth or fifth position (depending on which polls were accessed) into second place in a recent Gallup Poll?
According to a Gallup poll released on May 17, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led all potential Republican presidential nominees with 20 percent of respondents saying they would prefer he be the 2012 GOP choice. Palin was only two points behind. Given the statistical margin of error for the poll (+/- 3 percent), there is a statistical possibility Palin just might be the most preferred of all the candidates.
It appears Palin had a little help from her Republican colleagues and potential competitors. On May 14 former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a leader in many national polls as the preferred Republican candidate, announced via his Fox News talk show that he would not be seeking the GOP nomination in 2012, saying his heart just wasn't in it. Two days later, businessman Donald Trump, who had also led or maintained a frontrunner position among potential candidates, announced that he, too, would not seek the Republican Party's nomination in August 2012.
And then, just days after declaring that he was running for president, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich brought down the puzzled wrath of most of the GOP by calling Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal (incorporated in the overwhelmingly Republican-supported 2012 budget passed by the House of Representatives) a "radical change" from current Medicare practices, describing it as undesirable "social engineering."
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110522/pl_ac/8517835_sarah... ;_ylt=Auo7FfzQyesJpyzdXYhtvvkR.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTUzZjJqYWdxBGFzc2V0A2FjLzIwMTEwNTIyLzg1MTc4MzVfc2FyYWhfcGFsaW5fbW92ZXNfaW50b19zdG
