Palin's popularity is real and reflective of a strong conservative positioning to "take back" a GOP that has deserted Reagan principles.

These numbers have nothing to do with the personalities in the coming election cycle. Rather, what we see here is the influence of the Conservative elements within the GOP and the Moderate/Liberal faction -- typified in "Palin versus McCain." This is not an indicator of who might be the GOP candidate in 2012. In presidential polls, Palin currently leads the pack but only by a point or two. But she is seen as the truest of conservatives, willing to put her reputation on the line as she works to advance the conservative grassroots cause. Only Michele Bachmann is willing to do the same, in our opinion, and she did not make the list. The other names on the list are either not conservative (McCain, Lindsey Graham, Colin Powell and maybe Jeb Bush and John Thune - maybe) or are busy doing other things like running their state's economies or doing the business of national governance. The fact is, Conservatives are marching on the GOP with a vengeance, positioning themselves to "take back" a party that has moved away from Reagan.

Leaders such as McCain and Lindsey Graham, good men and very sincere in their political beliefs, no longer reflect the kind of politic that is seen as critical in moving this country away from a Marxism that is currently attacking this great nation. Compromise and the hope that "we should all just get along" can have no place in the New GOP because such thinking is not present in the Marxist Democrat Socialist Party of the present day. When was the last time anyone heard Nancy Pelosi or Hussein Obama bemoan "one party rule?" There was such a time, you know. It was back in the 1990's when the GOP was the majority party. Now that "they" [the Dems] are in control, not a peep.

                 11/23/09
Sarah Palin             18
John McCain             13
Mike Huckabee            7
Mitt Romney              6
Newt Gingrich            4
Rush Limbaugh            2
Bobby Jindal             1
Colin Powell             1
George Bush              1
George W. Bush           1
John Boehner             1
Kay Bailey Hutchison     1
Lindsey Graham           1
Mike Pence               1
Mitch McConnell          1
Ron Paul                 1
Ronald Reagan            1
Rudy Giuliani            1
Tim Pawlenty             1
Charles Grassley         *
Glenn Beck               *
Haley Barbour            *
Jeb Bush                 *
Jim DeMint               *
John Thune               *
Michael Steele           *
There is no leader       8
Other                    9
No opinion              20

Source: for this and other results, go to this link.