Who's on Top in the GOP 2012 Race?

It’s been almost an entire week since the 2010 election, which means it’s time to start speculating about 2012! Here’s the buzz on all the GOP’s presidential hopefuls, courtesy of The Week:

• Mike Huckabee: The governor-turned-Fox host’s “aw shucks” style has made him the early favorite—he came out on top in CNN’s latest poll, is strong in Iowa, and beat President Obama by eight points in a hypothetical poll match-up. But Rob Port at Say Anything complains that he’s “a big-government Republican nanny statist.”
• Mitt Romney: He finished just 1% behind Huckabee in the aforementioned poll, and a lot of 2010 winners owe him a favor. "My gut tells me Romney's the frontrunner," says James Joyner at Outside the Beltway. The problem? The health care plan he championed in Massachusetts looks a whole lot like ObamaCare.

• Sarah Palin: She’s really popular with the base, but the rest of the country hates her. Unlike Huckabee and Romney, she trails Obama in head-to-head polling. Even George W. Bush doesn't approve.
• Newt Gingrich: The ex-House speaker runs strong against Obama, and he’s won over the Tea Party base with his constant extreme rhetoric. Still, Port doesn't think voters will want “a tired old retread more interested in selling books.”

Click here for the scoop on hopeful No. 5.
(More Election 2012 stories.)