What the Huck?

Obviously, it's

far, far too early to be speculating on who might end up as the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee. You'd have to be some sort of deranged, Beltway fanatic to even want to think about such a thing at this point.

But can you really label it "speculation" when you have actual polling data? Rassmussen reports on how the Republican party's pre-pre-pre-game is shaping up:

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

At this early date, these numbers tell us about as much what we'll see from the GOP in 2012 as a Variety story about a studio optioning the rights to a novel tells us about the eventual movie that may or may not get made from it. But it's interesting to me in that it suggests that, despite talk of the Republican party prioritizing economic concerns over social policy, their current top candidate is the one who's most squishy on economic policy and most known for his social conservatism.