ELECTING NOBODY – AT 7:26 P.M. ET:  There's an old saying in politics that you can't beat somebody with nobody.  That saying may have to be revised.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama leads a generic Republican candidate by only 2 percentage points in a potential 2012 matchup, according to a new Gallup Poll out Thursday that also shows a continued drift of independents away from Democrats.

Obama leads 44 percent to 42 percent, a statistical dead heat, against a nameless Republican, according to the survey of 1,025 adults nationwide.

Not surprisingly, the poll shows that Democrats strongly believe the president should be reelected, while Republicans would like to see one of their own in the White House.

But among independent voters, 45 percent would back a Republican and only 31 percent would favor the president. Twenty-four percent of independents are not sure if they would vote for Obama or a Republican candidate.

COMMENT:  You know, when you're only leading "nobody" by two points, you're in trouble.  Maybe the GOP should just run "none of the above" in 2012, and give "none" the biggest buildup in political history. 

The poll was taken among registered voters, which is respectable.  However, polls among likely voters generally produce an even better result for Republicans.

February 12, 2010