Quinnipiac: Palin 19, Romney 18, Huckabee 17, Gingrich 15, Pawlenty 6

A national Quinnipiac poll of registered voters out today shows a wide-open Republican primary, as Palin, Romney, and Huckabee remain clustered in the high teens.

The poll shows Romney slightly ahead of Obama (45% to 44%), while Huckabee trails slightly (46% to 44%). Palin trails Obama by 8 points (48% to 40%), while Mitch Daniels trails Obama by 9 points (45% to 36%). The good news for Daniels is that 81% of voters haven't heard enough about him to have an opinion of him, so he has a lot of room to grow. Sarah Palin, by far the best known Republican in the poll, has a net-negative favorable rating, as does Gingrich, while Huckabee and Romney both have net-positive favorable ratings, according to Quinnipiac: 

Ms. Palin is viewed the most negatively by the American people of the possible Republican candidates in 2012. She is viewed unfavorable by 51 percent of voters and favorably by 36 percent. Among independents, the key swing voting bloc, she has a negative 54 - 33 percent favorability rating. 

Huckabee gets a 41 - 25 percent favorability rating and Romney gets a 38 - 26 percent score. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets a negative 30 - 43 percent score.