Obama To Attend Cronkite Memorial

Obama To Attend Cronkite Memorial
CBS Plans Memorial For Walter Cronkite With President Obama, Others
Move Over Octomom. Is there a Duodecaplets Mom?
We’ve all heard of the Octomom from California but apparently she’s about to be upstaged as rumors are spreading like wildfire that a 30-something teacher in Tunisia is pregnant with 12 fetuses. Yes, twelve. The woman has not been named...
Obama vs. Palin in 2012: A 23-point gap

by Mark Silva

Let's stipulate a few things first:

Sarah Palin has not announced that she is running for president.

President Barack Obama and V.P. Joe Biden soundly defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain and Palin last year.

Mooseburger makes a great chili, we hear from Wasilla, but quitting midway through the term as governor doesn't make for a great political resume -- even a narrow majority of Republicans surveyed say so of the former governor of Alaska.

All that said, more than three years out from any such potential matchup, Obama holds a good 20-percentage point advantage over Palin, the Republican former governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, in a theoretical matchup for the presidency in 2012.

In the midst of what is proving to be a difficult summer for Obama, enmeshed in a fierce debate over health-care and apparently losing support (polls show) for his handling of a number of key domestic issues, more than half the voters surveyed for the Marist Poll56 percentsaid they would vote for Obama in a contest with Palin.Just 33 percent said they would vote for Palin.

The numbers fall along party lines, as may be expected: With 92 percent of the Democrats surveyed favoring the president in a Palin match, and 73 percent of the Republicans surveyed favoring Palin.

For that matter, the Marist Poll finds no clear favorite among any of the Republicans tested in this survey: With 21 percent saying they could support former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a GOP primary, 20 percent Palin and 19 percent former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Among the names most widely known now, support falls off after the top three: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich drawing the support of 10 percent of the Republicans surveyed, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal 5 percent and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty 1 percent.

Palin's decision to quit the governor's office little more than midway through her term after serving as the GOP's nominee for vice president last year " did not help her cause,'' Marist reports.

"In fact, voters say her action hurt her prospects for a presidential bid,'' Marist notes61 percent of all voters surveyed view Palin's resignation was a bad political move while just 15 percent say it should help her political aspirations. A slim majority of Republicans -- 51 percent -- say stepping down hurt her political future.

The Marist survey of 938 adults, including 854 registered voters, was conducted Aug. 3-6 and carries a possible margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.