Republicans polled on their 2012 presidential nominees

Rasmussen polls have become increasingly known as outliers and particularly slanted in favor of conservative positions.  I have no idea whether that's purposeful, but it's well known that the design of questions can have a remarkable effect on the outcome of a poll.

But Rasmussen's new poll of Republican voters is interesting, nonetheless. 

1* I know it’s a long way off, but suppose the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary were held in your state today. If you had a choice between Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Tim Pawlenty, for whom would you vote?

25% Romney
24% Palin
22% Huckabee
14% Gingrich
1% Barbour
1% Pawlenty
6% Some other candidate
6% Not sure

2* Okay…regardless of who you would vote for, which candidate would you least like to see win the Republican nomination in 2012…. Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour or Tim Pawlenty?

9% Romney
21% Palin
10% Huckabee
15% Gingrich
21% Barbour
15% Pawlenty
11% Not sure

A couple interesting things about the poll;

  -  As the survey was conducted subsequent to Sarah Palin's decision to bail on her responsiblities as governor, it's the first glimpse into how Ms. Palin's actions are being regarded by Republicans.  While she's essentially tied with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee as a frontrunner, she also leads the field in the ranking of candidates Republicans would least like to see emerge as the Party nominee.  Some kind of bipolar condition for the Republicans.

  -  Given that all three of the frontrunners ran for the office (or Vice President in Palin's case) and were rejected by their own party, they pretty clearly have to play some serious catch up over the next couple years.

  -  What happened to Bobby Jindal?  Already a goner for the Republicans?