Poll: Obama would crush Palin in 2012

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama would defeat former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by 16 points were they to contest the 2012 presidential election, a poll indicated Tuesday.

A Bloomberg News National Poll found 51 percent of likely voters would support Obama's re-election, while 35 percent would vote for Palin in a theoretical match-up in 2012. Four percent said they were undecided.

Palin, the 2008 GOP nominee for vice president, drew a 54 percent unfavorable rating in the poll, while 38 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Tea Party icon.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents doubted if Palin would be effective in the Oval Office -- including 47 percent of Republicans, a "60 Minutes"/Vanity Fair poll in September indicated.

Palin said in September she would enter the race for the White House "in the name of service to the public" if she saw no other adequate candidates in the field.

"It isn't my call -- it is the people of America, whether they would be ready for someone a bit unconventional, out of the box," Palin told Newsmax this week.

The Bloomberg poll was conducted Oct. 7-10 with an error margin of 3.7 percentage points.