According to a Quinnipiac University national poll of 1,408 voters released on Wednesday, 58 percent of Americans would never endorse a Republican presidential bid by Palin or Trump, but about half would consider or be enthusiastic about voting for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
The 64-year-old Romney, who announced that he had begun forming an exploratory committee in early April, also has had a healthy lead in most polls of the potential Republican field in the early voting state of New Hampshire.
Huckabee, the author of a few best-selling books and host of the Huckabee talk show on Fox News, still has not said whether he plans to be a Republican presidential candidate next year.
"Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are in the best shape,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the university’s Polling Institute, in a release. “Sarah Palin and Donald Trump suffer from the reality that, as our mothers told us, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression.'"
Trump, the host and executive producer of NBC’s The Apprentice, has said that he will announce if he will join the presidential race after his show ends on May 22, but before June. Trump is still suspected of an elaborate publicity stunt and ratings grab with his repeated political campaigns over the years.
Palin, who was presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate in 2008, has yet to announce her intentions.
"It is difficult to get a handle on the 2012 Republican race,” Brown said. “Many contenders are not well known and many who are known are not liked, making their candidacies problematic.”
Possible presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 38 percent of American voters enthusiastic or would consider voting for him, while 42 percent said they would never.
Thirty-five percent of Americans are enthusiastic or would consider Texas congressman Ron Paul, and 27 percent would never vote for him. Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s chances look even grimmer at 27 percent being enthusiastic or would consider voting for her, while 29 percent would never.
The telephone poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
