Public Policy Polling. 1/14-16. Registered voters. MoE 3.9%. (crosstabs)
Obama 49
Huckabee 45
Obama 48
Romney 43
Obama 55
Palin 38
Obama 51
Gingrich 39
Obama 51
Bachmann 33
We've got a long way to go before anybody casts votes that matter, but as PPP's Tom Jensen notes, President Obama's numbers are better than they have been for a long time (his lead over Romney is largest since December 2009) but he still leads Huckabee and Romney by less than he beat McCain in 2008.
Also notable is that President Obama has unified support from both liberals and Democrats while the GOP field has less solid support from their base. Obama carries 93% of liberals against Huckabee, 89% against Romney, 94% against Palin, 93% against Gingrich, and 90% against Bachmann. He carries 86% of Democrats against Huckabee, 89% against Palin, 88% against Gingrich, 86% against Romney, and 85% against Bachmann.
By contrast, Huckabee carries 80% of conservatives and Republicans, Romney carries 75% and 78%, respectively, Palin carries 73% and 69%, Gingrich carries 73% and 72%, and Bachmann carries 64% and 61%.
In addition, moderates overwhelmingly support President Obama, of whom he wins between 62% (against Romney) and 73% (against Palin). Among independents, Obama leads all candidates except Romney.
Still, while these are good numbers, there's not going to be an election for nearly two years, and as we saw in 2010, numbers can change quickly. Ultimately, the state of the economy will have a much bigger impact on the resolution of the 2012 race than any polling from early 2011.