Poll: Huckabee leads 2012 GOP hopefuls

Television personality and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee led a batch of 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls in the latest poll from Gallup.

Huckabee, ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) were selected as the top three GOPers whom Republican respondents would "seriously consider supporting" in the next presidential contest. Seventy-one percent of people polled selected Huckabee; 65 percent selected both Romney and Palin.

Sixty percent of Republican respondents also said they would support former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Lesser-known potential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Republican Governors Association Chairman and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour brought up the rear; they received 32 and 26 percent support, respectively.

The poll showed that several contenders have broad-based support among Republicans, but are not as well-received among the broader population. Only 40 percent of all respondents said they would "seriously consider" supporting Huckabee, the top-ranked Republican, in 2012.

No more than 40 percent of independents would "seriously consider" supporting any Republican candidate. Huckabee and Romney each earned 40 percent, while Palin received 32 percent support from the bloc.

Fifty percent of all respondents said that Huckabee is qualified to be president and 49 percent said the same of Romney. The numbers drop off for Palin, whom 31 percent of respondents said was qualified to be president.

The three front-runners remained the same as in a July Gallup poll that asked respondents which candidate they were likely to support.

The poll was based on telephone interviews of 1,021 Americans between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.