Rating the Republicans in Iowa

Our early Iowa polling looks very similar to how things went in the state in 2008 and there's a reason for that: with the exception of Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin voters in the state don't really know any of the new folks who they may be able to choose from in 2012 very well.

John Thune, Mitch Daniels, and Mike Pence could all make a strong impact in Iowa as fresh Midwestern faces if they end up getting into the race. But for now it's pretty much impossible to measure their potential impact because each is known to fewer than 30% of Republican voters in the state. Folks like Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, and Haley Barbour are all better known but they still fall under 50% with an opinion about them.

It's certainly possible that if Huckabee and Romney run again they'll finish one two in Iowa just like they did in 2008 and as our early polling shows. But it's also quite possible that one of these folks from further out in the pack who isn't very well known right now will catch fire and have a very strong impact on the race.

Here are the GOP folks we tested in rank order of how many voters had an opinion about them:

Name	% with opinion	Favorability (spread)
Sarah Palin	89%	60/29 (+31)
Mike Huckabee	88%	72/16 (+56)
Mitt Romney	83%	57/26 (+31)
Newt Gingrich	80%	53/27 (+26)
Rudy Giuliani	79%	49/30 (+19)
Ron Paul	70%	47/23 (+24)
Tim Pawlenty	46%	34/12 (+22)
Rick Santorum	37%	28/9 (+19)
Haley Barbour	36%	22/14 (+8)
Jim DeMint	32%	22/10 (+12)
John Thune	29%	20/9 (+11)
Mike Pence	24%	16/8 (+8)
Mitch Daniels	22%	11/11 (0)