Republicans Uncertain Over Who Should Challenge Obama in 2012

Republicans may be seeing the start of a political surge, but GOP voters still don't know who they want to lead it.

A new poll shows Republican voters are deeply divided over who they want to carry the party mantle in the 2012 presidential race. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leads the pack, a couple other names are close behind and a whopping 42 percent of Republicans are listed as undecided.

The numbers suggest the 2012 presidential primary is any Republicans' game. Republicans are expecting to pick up a lot of seats in the congressional midterm elections, buoyed by success in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections last year, and the Massachusetts Senate election last month. But while President Obama's approval ratings have dropped significantly since he took office, it's unclear who would be up to the task of challenging him.

The survey was conducted by Research 2000, a non-partisan firm that polls for the liberal Web site Daily Kos. It surveyed 2,003 Republicans between Jan. 20 and Jan. 31.

The poll showed Palin with 16 percent support, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 11 percent and former Vice President Dick Cheney with 10 percent.

Cheney, though, has rejected talk of a presidential run despite efforts to "draft" him into launching a bid.

The Research 2000 poll had a margin of error of 2.2 percent. It also showed, among Republicans, 53 percent believe Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama. Just 14 percent think otherwise.