Gallup Poll: Romney leads

A new Gallup poll has the three presumptive Republican front-runners locked in a tight race.

Among Republicans:

1. Mitt Romney 26%

2. Sarah Palin 21%

3. Mike Huckabee 19%

4. Newt Gingrich 14%

5. Tim Pawlenty 3%

6. Haley Barbour 2%

Some notes:

Palin continues to have the highest favorable ratings among Republicans, but only because she's better known than Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. As Gallup notes, each candidate has about a 3:1 positive ratio.

Among all Americans, the news is rosiest for Mike Huckabee. While Palin deals with a -2% favorable rating, both Mitt Romney (at +8%) and Mike Huckabee (at +19%) are well-liked by the general public.

Summary:

It's obvious that Sarah Palin's resignation hasn't hurt her with Republicans, but it's also obvious that she hasn't been able to gain any traction with the public at large, even while she's been the second most prominent politician since the election, just behind Barack Obama.

This suggests that even greater exposure on the national scene (like she presumably is planning) might not help her cause. Her name awareness is already high and opinions calcified.

Both Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have experienced jumps in their ratings since the 2008 primary, which might mean laying low(er) is the way to go. If that's the case, Palin's plans for even more exposure could hurt her.

For prior 2012 polls from various sources, click here, here, here, here, or if you're tired of all the individual clicking, visit the poll archive.

[Hat tip: Jeremy Jacobs]