Two polls find Romney, Huckabee, and Palin in a dead heat. James Joyner sizes up the candidates:
My gut tells me that Romney is the frontrunner and Palin the strongest challenger. I can’t [imagine] Huckabee beating Palin, although he has a track record of hanging around long after his defeat is inevitable and could serve as a spoiler. Gingrich has way too much baggage.
My hope is that someone who didn’t run in 2012 a governor like Gary Johnson, maybe emerges. But it’s going to be difficult because this race will get started quickly and the winner will need enough money to choke a horse.
I suppose there’s always Marco Rubio he’ll be more experienced than Obama was in 2008 and he’s got a huge fan base and boatloads of charisma. But I suspect he’ll wait a little longer.