Back in 2008, Mitt Romney came in second place to John McCain in Florida's GOP primary, a loss that signaled the beginning of the end for his campaign. Perhaps though the Sunshine State could prove warmer to Romney's presidential hopes a second time around. A new poll from Mason-Dixon shows Romney is the very early front runner in the state's 2012 primary.
Here's the full rundown on the possible GOP candidates from Mason-Dixon:
Mitt Romney 23%The poll also shows that both Romney and Huckabee would beat Obama in Florida in a head-to-head match up, but Obama still would trounce both Palin and Trump.
Mike Huckabee 18%
Donald Trump 13%
Newt Gingrich 11%
Tim Pawlenty 8%
Sarah Palin 5%
Mitch Daniels 4%
Ron Paul 3%
Michelle Bachman 1%
Rick Santorum 1%
Haley Barbour -
Undecided 13%
Though, compare that to a Public Policy poll from last week that still shows Romney sharing the lead, but in a much tighter race:
Michele Bachmann 7%Romney's numbers also changed when the list of candidates were altered in the PPP poll. If Huckabee sat out, Gingrich would lead Romney 24-24. If Palin sat out, Huckabee would beat Romney 24-22.
Haley Barbour 3%
Newt Gingrich 18%
Mike Huckabee 18%
Sarah Palin 15%
Ron Paul 6%
Tim Pawlenty 6%
Mitt Romney 18%
Someone else/Undecided 8%
Though the Mason-Dixon poll shows Gingrich with much lower number of support overall.
It's still a long way from that early 2012 primary date, and new candidates could emerge. Plus Romney would be hit repeatedly for instituting a program in Massachusetts that seems an awful lot like the so-called "Obamacare." Plus, there was that time he quoted Fidel Castro in front of a bunch of Miami Cuban-Americans.
There's also the matter of when exactly Florida's primary would be held. State leaders are pushing for another early date (like last time's fiasco), but national leaders want Florida to wait its tradition turn after many other state's have already had their say.
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