Alaska: Arkansas

From David Hulen in Anchorage --

This today from CNN , three years before the next election:

A new national poll of Republicans suggests that there's no front runner at this extremely early moment in the next race for the White House. Three possible candidates are all bunched at the top of a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday.

The survey suggests that 22 percent of Republicans would most likely support former Arkansas governor and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee for their party's presidential nomination in 2012. Twenty-one percent say they would most likely back Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, with an equal number supporting former Massachusetts governor and former White House hopeful Mitt Romney.

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From Lisa Demer in Anchorage --

There's buzz today about a new legal fund created for Gov. Sarah Palin. But the family spokeswoman says it's not sanctioned by Palin.

"It’s not official. Neither the governor nor her attorney can accept monies from a group like this. There is one that is the process of being established," said Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton.

Clayton Paslay, who splits his time between Texas and California, said in a telephone interview that he's a big supporter of Palin and last year started a political action committee to support her and other conservatives, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Then he heard Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly say Palin needed help with her legal bills. So, about a week ago, he added a legal fund for Palin to his Web site.

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From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, is finding his place in the U.S. Senate, and it appears to be right in the middle. His office announced today that he joined a newly formed caucus of moderate Senate Democrats, called the "Moderate Dems Working Group."

They'll meet every other Tuesday before the weekly Democratic Caucus lunched to discuss legislative strategies and ideas, Begich's office said. Their current focus? The upcoming federal budget negotiations federal budget negotiations and "the importance of passing a fiscally responsible spending plan in the Senate," Begich's statement said.

The group is led by Sens.

From David Hulen in Anchorage --

Odds & ends:

> As the Conservative Political Action Conference continues in Washington, CNN released a new poll on Friday showing Gov. Palin as the front-runner among Republicans for the next presidential nomination. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was next, within the margin of error. From the CNN story:

While the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll doesn't indicate a clear front-runner, it does suggest there's a gender gap among rank-and-file Republicans.

"Among GOP men, the same pattern emerges -- no clear advantage for Palin, Huckabee or Romney. But among Republican women, it's a different story. Palin has a 10-point edge among Republican women, winning 32 percent support among them to 22 percent for Huckabee and 20 percent for Romney," [CNN Polling Director Keating] Holland said.