Palin Gaining on Obama (and She's not Even in the Race... yet)

I will continue to shout from the rooftops that Rick Perry would be a terrible choice for Republicans to settle on as their nominee. He is such a moderate, he'd only open the door for another Democrat in 2016. Unless the Republicans nominate a conservative, it will be the biggest waste of the Obama years. Jimmy Carter opened the door for Ronald Reagan. Obama is Carter on steroids and it will be an utter shame if conservatives don't take advantage of this reality. Sure, there are conservatives in the race (Santorum and Bachmann) but they increasingly look like they don't have a chance. There is one conservative who does and her name is Sarah Palin. She's also gaining ground on Obama.

Via Miami Herald:

WASHINGTON -- Look out President Barack Obama. Even Sarah Palin's gaining on you.

A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Obama looks increasingly vulnerable in next year's election, with a majority of voters believing he'll lose to any Republican, a solid plurality saying they'll definitely vote against him and most potential Republican challengers gaining on him.

Even in potential matchups where he leads, Obama in most cases has lost ground to the Republican.

The biggest gain came for Palin, the former Alaska governor who hasn't yet announced whether she'll jump into the fast-changing race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

After trailing Obama by more than 20 percentage points in polls all year, the new national survey, taken Sept. 13-14, found Palin trailing the president by just 5 points, 49-44 percent. The key reason: She now leads Obama among independents, a sharp turnaround.

If it's true that any Republican nominated would defeat Obama, why on earth should the Tea Party or conservatives settle for a moderate like Romney or Perry. Let's face it. As it stands right now, one of those two is probably who we're going to get unless Palin gets in. She's the only potential candidate who can beat either Romney or Perry for the nomination.

On top of that, she's the only one with a quantifiable record of taking on crony capitalism, which is fast becoming a primary issue in 2012.

h/t Drudge