Mike Huckabee tops Iowa Power Rankings

Iowa Independent listed their 2012 GOP power rankings placing Mike Huckabee at the top of the list, Mitt Romney falls to fourth.  This follows the We Ask America Iowa 2012 Republican Caucus Survey that placed Huckabee at the top and Romney at the bottom of tier one candidates.  Not only does Iowa like Mike Huckabee, they really want him to run.

"Perspectives have been culled from our staff members, additional state political reporters, party activists, academics, elected officials, political consultants and other insiders to create these rankings. While unscientific, the ranks provide insights that cannot be garnered in traditional polling or from any one pundit as to a candidate’s organizational strength in the Hawkeye State.

All those invited to participate are asked to answer one question:   If the Republican caucuses were held tonight, this is how we think it would end:

1.Mike Huckabee — There were two key reasons given repeatedly by our panel for their rankings: Name recognition and proximity to Iowans. The former Arkansas governor who stole the caucus show in 2008 continues to have both. His statewide organization was never dismantled. In fact, many of those who supported Huckabee previously were called into action during the 2010 judicial retention vote in Iowa by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

“‘I like Mike’ is still the most common line in Iowa,” notes one contributor. “Huck has a strong residual organization in Iowa awaiting his run. [But] organization is not everything, and Huck’s message of small government, return to more traditional cultural norms and optimistic support for the ‘everyman’ remains as or more popular than it was in 2007.”

In contrast, however, another of our panelists warns that “Iowans are notoriously fickle on their support of someone when it comes to caucuses — just ask Tom Vilsack.”

The Huckabee brand remains a force among Iowa Republicans, and only Huckabee himself seems in a position to dismantle it. Nearly 80 percent of our participants believed Huckabee would have a repeat first place performance if the caucuses were held tonight. Half of those in the remaining 20 percent didn’t include Huckabee in their rankings at all due to their belief that he wouldn’t be running."

Click here to read the rest of the rankings.

We Ask America Iowa 2012 Republican Caucus Survey

    * Mike Huckabee 20.33%
    * Sarah Palin 14.12%
    * Newt Gingrich 13.90%
    * Mitt Romney 13.33%
    * Donald Trump 9.04%
    * Ron Paul 4.52%
    * Tim Pawlenty 3.50%
    * Haley Barbour 2.60%
    * Mitch Daniels 1.81%
    * Other 6.10%
    * Uncertain 10.85%

Among Men

    * Mike Huckabee 17.31%
    * Sarah Palin 15.72%
    * Newt Gingrich 14.58%
    * Mitt Romney 12.53%
    * Donald Trump 11.16%
    * Tim Pawlenty 4.78%
    * Ron Paul 4.56%
    * Haley Barbour 2.05%
    * Mitch Daniels 1.59%
    * Other 6.83%
    * Uncertain 8.88%

Among Women

    * Mike Huckabee 23.09%
    * Mitt Romney 14.13%
    * Newt Gingrich 13.23%
    * Sarah Palin 12.56%
    * Donald Trump 6.95%
    * Ron Paul 4.48%
    * Tim Pawlenty 2.24%
    * Haley Barbour 3.14%
    * Mitch Daniels 2.02%
    * Other 5.38%
    * Uncertain 12.78%

Survey of 885 likely Iowa GOP caucus participants was conducted March 10, 2011. The margin of error is ±3.29 percentage points.

H/T The Argo Journal for compilation of data