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Poll: Obama Leads 2012 GOP Hopefuls

MIAMI (CBS4) - President Barack Obama has suffered through election losses in Congress in 2010, but early polling in Florida showed that if the election was today, Obama would easily win the Sunshine State.

The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed Obama beating possible GOP presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor polled the best of the potential GOP candidates.

The numbers are striking because overall in the poll, Obama's approval rating in Florida is 45 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval. Among Democrats he has a 69/24 approval spread while Republicans have an 81 percent disapproval of the president.

But among independents, Obama polled remarkably well. He garnered a 59 percent approving and 35 percent disapproval rating.

Obama would crush Sarah Palin by a 52-38 percent margin while Mitt Romney would come the closest to overtaking the president. Romney would lose to Obama by a 46-44 percent margin, according to the poll.

Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich trail Obama by 5 points.

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