Palin And The Middle, Ctd

Weigel mulls over today's poll:

It’s far too early in the game to make much of this, but consider: Four years ago, when Republicans knew they’d be facing a tough election, their early presidential frontrunners were Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Romney. The first two were unacceptable to social conservatives, and the third was somewhat more acceptable, but still had huge problems with that part of the GOP coalition. Now the early frontrunners are two social conservatives, one of whom (Huckabee) is despised by the party’s economic conservatives and libertarians, and one of whom (Palin) is seen by many as unelectable indeed, only 29 percent of Americans in this poll consider Palin qualified for the presidency. And that’s why, despite lagging in surveys like this, most wags still see Romney as the frontrunner.