The first vote of the 2012 presidential election is still at least six months away, but polls in the race are already coming fast and furious—and frequently offer competing results.
Case in point: A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday afternoon finds Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney statistically tied in the race for the GOP nomination—with 22 percent of likely GOP votes supporting the former Alaska governor and 20 percent choosing the ex-governor of Massachusetts.
That's in direct contrast to a new Quinnipiac Poll released earlier this morning, which had Romney leading Palin by 10 points.
Meanwhile, both polls differ with an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday, which found Romney tied with President Obama in a projected general election match-up. Quinnipiac says Obama leads Romney by six points—47 percent to 41 percent. But the new Reuters/Ipsos poll found Obama leading Romney by 13 points—51 percent to 38 percent.
Long story short: Polls are helpful in gauging the nation's mood on issues and candidates, but the numbers are likely to be all over the place heading into the heat of the campaign, especially with a race as unsettled as the GOP primary is today.
(Photo of Palin and Romney: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
