Clarus Poll: Palin Support for GOP Nomination Sinks

Romney, Huckabee and Gingrich Lead Pack

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new nationwide survey of Republican voters finds that support for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to win the GOP's 2012 presidential nomination has fallen by one-third since March, sliding from 18 points to 12 points. Palin is now running in fourth place for the nomination behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

In all three Clarus polls testing the 2012 nomination strength of a changing roster of potential candidates, Romney and Huckabee have topped the GOP field.

The poll was conducted by Clarus Research Group, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C. based polling and research firm. The survey was not sponsored or paid for by any client, candidate or political party.

• "Palin gets more attention from the national media than presidential support from Republicans," said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus. "The major change since March is that Gingrich has now edged out Palin for third place, even though the two are running well within the statistical margin of error."
• "Over the past year, the Clarus Poll has shown Romney's support has declined 4 points while support for Huckabee and Gingrich has remained about the same," said Faucheux. "Regardless of these fluctuations, our latest survey shows that the 2012 Republican nomination contest is wide open."

Here are the results of the three Clarus polls on the 2012 Republican choices:

POLL METHODOLOGY: Survey interviews were conducted live via telephone calls based on a sample of 374 U.S. registered voters nationwide who self-identified as Republicans or as Independents who lean Republican on July 26-27, 2010. The margin of error for the sample is +/- 5 percent.

THE FOLLOWING QUESTION WAS ASKED OF RESPONDENTS: "Of the following possible candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, which ONE would you now favor if you had to vote today... (ROTATE NAMES) Lamar Alexander, Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, or John Thune?

Ron Faucheux, Ph.D., Clarus president and chief analyst, is the author or editor of seven books on politics and teaches at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. For more information on Clarus, go to www.ClarusRG.com.

SOURCE Clarus Research Group