CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.WASHINGTON – A politician most of the country has never heard of – Gov. Mitch Daniels – would come close to beating President Obama if they ran against each other in 2012, according to a national poll released Monday. Daniels would get about as many votes as Sarah Palin, one of the biggest names in GOP circles.
Obama, a household name, would get 47 percent of the votes. Daniels, who is unknown by 75 percent of the country, would get 41 percent, according to the poll sponsored by George Washington University and Politico, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
Daniels has made an effort to increase his national profile in recent months but is non-committal about whether he would seek his party’s nomination. Nonetheless, the Hoosier Republican consistently is included in lists of Republicans who might run for the GOP presidential nomination.
The poll conducted by two polling firms – one a Democratic firm, the other a Republican firm – asked 1,000 likely voters about potential GOP presidential candidates.
The people who participated in the poll gave a nearly equal amount of support to Daniels as to the Republicans’ best-known possible candidate, Palin.
Only two out of 100 people said they never heard of Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008.
But, like Daniels, about four of every 10 poll participants said they would vote for her over Obama, given the choice.
In an Obama-Palin head-to-head contest, Obama would take 50 percent of the vote; Palin, 42 percent.
More people said they have an unfavorable opinion of her than a favorable opinion – 49 percent compared to 44 percent. Of the 26 percent of people who said they have heard of Daniels, 7 percent said they regard him favorably, and 6 percent said they have a negative opinion of him. The other 13 percent said they haven’t formed an opinion.
Even though Daniels is nothing more than a question mark in most voters’ minds, that doesn’t mean a potential presidential bid is impossible, said Ed Goeas, a partner in the GOP polling firm, the Tarrance Group.
He said only a few of the potential Republican presidential contenders are well-known among voters, and the best-known – Palin – has a net negative image.
All of that, Goeas said in an analysis of the poll results, “offers a strong opportunity for a potential GOP candidate who is relatively unknown now to emerge as a major contender for this nomination.”
