Most New Mexicans still have a favorable view of former Gov. Gary Johnson, whereas other 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls are all unpopular, according to Public Policy Polling.

Johnson has a 44-32 favorability spread, compared with all of the other candidates who have negative favorability ratings in their home state.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who has not announced a run for president, has a 50 percent unfavorable rating to 42 percent favorable. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are also unpopular, with only 40 percent holding a favorable view of them in their respective home states. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are particularly unpopular in their home states, with just 33 percent holding a favorable view of them. (Rep. Ron Paul, who is a libertarian like Johnson, and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman were not included in the poll.)

While Johnson is well-liked in New Mexico, more than eight in 10 registered Republicans nationwide do not recognize his name, according to Gallup. He is not measured in many nationwide polls, and CNN did not invite him to its June 13 debate.

Multiple GOP-affiliated groups are calling for presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson to be invited to an upcoming televised debate in New Hampshire. The debate’s hosts, CNN as well as the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR-TV, say they will not include Johnson because he has not received more than 2 percent support in any major national polls.

What’s particularly interesting is the nature of the groups that are supporting Johnson’s invitation: Both the New Hampshire Young Republicans and GOProud, the Republican gay-rights group, have condemned Johnson’s exclusion. Both emphasized the unusual move of excluding an experienced and respected politician from the debate, while extending invitations to less experienced candidates with greater name recognition. The Associated Press reports that David Hurst, chairman of the New Hampshire Young Republicans, says that “Johnson has an impressive record as governor and should have been included.”

Similarly, Jimmy La Salvia, executive director of GOProud, told the Washington Times, “Gary Johnson is a former two-term Governor and a committed limited government advocate… he has certainly earned the right to participate in this debate.”

With his libertarian beliefs, including his support for marijuana legalization, reproductive rights and same-sex marriage, Johnson has a clear appeal to members of a generation that tends to share his socially liberal views but that may nevertheless identify as conservative, vote Republican and want their voices heard within the party.

Critics of the debate’s format point out that relying on early polling to determine who should be included in the debate has led to the unusual outcome of inviting people who haven’t yet declared their candidacy (such as Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and, before they declared they weren’t running, Mike Huckabee and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels) while leaving out Johnson. However, as a post on Johnson’s website pointed out, Johnson actually did receive 3 percent support in recent Gallup polling, which means that the debate’s hosts are faced with a challenge to their decision.

A new CBS News/New York Times poll (PDF) shows that 56 percent of Republican voters do not feel enthusiastic about any of the official or prospective GOP candidates running for president in 2012.

The highest percent of enthusiasm for a single candidate (without offering those polled a list to choose from) was 9 percent, for Mitt Romney. Mike Huckabee garnered 8 percent on the enthusiasm poll; Donald Trump, 7 percent; Newt Gingrich 5 percent; and Sarah Palin 4 percent.

Asked about specific potential contenders, the most “favorable” ratings went as follows:

• Huckabee: 54 percent
• Palin: 51 percent
• Romney: 42 percent
• Gingrich: 42 percent
• Trump: 35 percent
• Michele Bachmann: 21 percent
• Tim Pawlenty: 20 percent
• Rick Santorum: 19 percent
• Haley Barbour: 12 percent
• Mitch Daniels: 9 percent
• Jon Huntsman: 5 percent

Neither Ron Paul nor former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson were included in the poll, although a Gallup poll released Friday does include both: While Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee topped the poll, with 16 percent apiece, Paul garnered 6 percent and Johnson registered less than one percent.

Based on these results, CBS News has declared the race for the GOP nomination “wide open,” noting that when asked about specific candidates, most registered voters claimed not to know about most of the potential GOP contenders, especially Mississippi Gov. Barbour, Indiana Gov. Daniels and Huntsman.

While Donald Trump earned a favorable rating from 35 percent of Republican voters polled, 32 percent said they viewed him unfavorably and 33 percent said they had not heard enough about him to form an opinion. But of all registered voters, CBS News/New York Times said 72 percent of Americans do not view Trump as a serious presidential candidate.

Still, Trump’s high public profile has kept him in 2012 race discussions, at least in popular media.

The Des Moines Register on Thursday published an interview with Trump, highlighting his “evolving” views on same-sex marriage and abortion –- topics Trump is used to discussing. As far as more serious complex policy issues, his answers left much to be desired in the way of substance.

From the Des Moines Register:

Trump on national debt:

“What I’m going to do to reduce the debt is create a great economy. That can reduce the deficit better than anything. I am going to bring jobs back home. I am going to stop China from ripping off the United States — they will make $300 billion off us this year. I am going to stop China from manipulating their currency so we buy all their products and they take all our jobs. I will fight OPEC so oil comes way, way down. … I will create a tremendous economy. I will create a proud country.”

Trump on entitlements:

“I don’t like what’s happening in Washington where the Republican Party, a trap is being set for the Republican Party, where they’re willing to tinker and play with Medicare and Medicaid. Because I am against that. … I pledge right now that I will protect our senior citizens. And I don’t like that the Republicans have gone so far out on a limb about Medicare and Medicaid.”

Trump on embryonic stem cell research:

“I would say that I’d like to get back to you because I’m studying it very closely. It’s an issue, don’t forget, that as a businessman I’ve never been involved in.”

Sarah Palin may be a weak candidate in a general election in New Mexico, but she would receive significant support in the primary, according to a poll by Public Policy Polling. The survey also shows that though former Gov. Gary Johnson would be the strongest GOP candidate against President Barack Obama in New Mexico, he would be tied for fourth place in a Republican primary.

Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tops the Republican field in a presidential primary in New Mexico with 20 percent of the support among Republican primary voters. She’s followed by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee at 17 percent and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at 16 percent. Johnson and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich are currently tied for fourth with 13 percent.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty at 6 percent, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul at 4 percent and Indiana governor Mitch Daniels at 3 percent bring up the rear of the field in New Mexico. The poll shows 8 percent prefer an unnamed option or are currently completely undecided.

No Republican top-tier candidates have officially announced a run for president but all those in the poll are considered likely to at least explore a presidential run to take on Obama in the general election in 2012.

In a Senate primary against U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce and former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, Ninth Judicial District Attorney Matt Chandler, Secretary of State Dianna Duran and Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez Johnson would finish in second.

Wilson leads that primary with 35 percent of the support to Johnson’s 27 percent. Congressman Steve Pearce places in third with 17 percent while the rest of the potential candidates are in single digits.

Johnson is very unlikely to run for Senate.

Wilson and Pearce were involved in a Senate primary in 2008 which Pearce narrowly won after a hard-fought campaign 51 percent to 49 percent. Pearce went on to lose to Democrat Tom Udall in the general election by a large margin.

“We found on this poll that Johnson was unusually popular for a Republican with Democrats,” Director of Public Policy Polling Tom Jensen wrote, “but the other edge of that sword is that he’s lacking in popularity for a Republican with Republicans, and that’s why he does poorly here.”

Wilson has the highest favorable rating among Republicans than any of the others polled — 71 percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of Wilson compared to 18 percent unfavorable. The next closest was Steve Pearce who had a 69 percent favorable rating and a 16 percent unfavorable rating.

Johnson was the only person polled with a favorable rating of below 50 percent.

The poll showed 69 percent had a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin while 25 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the former Alaska governor.

The poll was conducted more than a year out from the Republican primary for either president or U.S. Senate in New Mexico. Much can change between now and the primary that effect the primary results including candidates formally joining the race or ruling themselves out.

The poll of 357 Republican primary voters was conducted from February 4 to 6. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5.2 percent.

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson came in third at the Conservative Political Action Committee straw poll this weekend. Johnson, likely buoyed by the support from thousands of Ron Paul fans, finished well behind Paul and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, won the straw poll for the second consecutive year. The poll’s results are non-scientific, with less than a majority of CPAC attendees participating. Many pundits and reporters see the straw poll as a way to gauge support for the candidates from conservative activists.

The poll is not a particularly good predictor of success in the Republican presidential primary either. In 2007, Romney won the straw poll and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani finished in second. Both were defeated by Sen. John McCain in the primary. McCain finished fifth in the CPAC straw poll that year.

Johnson received 6 percent of the first-place votes in this year’s straw poll. This was well behind Paul, 30 percent, and Romney, 23 percent. Johnson tied with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who has said numerous times that he’s not running for president. Johnson finished ahead of many recognizable Republicans including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

There were also other questions on the straw poll ballot besides attendees’ preferred presidential candidates. Politics Daily reported:

The straw poll covers more than preference for president. It also asks questions about issues. Fabrizio said the No. 1 concern of participants in the straw poll was ” the size of government and the role government has in your life.”

One question asked participants to choose among three statements to represent their “core beliefs and ideology.”

Eighty-four percent chose “My most important goal is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size and scope of government and its intrusion into the lives of citizens.”

Nine percent selected “My most important goal is to promote traditional values by protecting traditional marriage and protecting the life of the unborn.”

And 6 percent chose “My most important goal is to secure and guarantee American safety at home and abroad regardless of the cost or the size of government.”

Dave Weigel of Slate said that Johnson was the second-biggest winner of the conference. Weigel wrote that the third-place showing will propel him beyond his current stature.

“A third-place showing in the straw poll gave Johnson his first real media hook that wasn’t some combination of ‘he wants to legalize drugs’ and ‘he’s the new Ron Paul!’ Weigel wrote. “Oh, sure, half of Johnson’s coverage now will still be ‘how is he different than Ron Paul?’ But that’s an improvement. He met tons of reporters, commanded a small scrum after the vote, and is a slightly lighter shade of dark horse now.”

Johnson has not announced his candidacy and says he can’t as long as he heads the nonprofit Our America Initiative, but many believe he is gearing up for a presidential run. Johnson has traveled to New Hampshire, an important state in the presidential primary process, a number of times over the past few months.

Last year, Paul said he was undecided on another run for president but that Johnson would be a good candidate .

Johnson finished last in a presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last year.

According to a survey by a Democratic polling firm, President Barack Obama starts off in strong position to win New Mexico in 2012 as he did in 2008. The Public Policy Polling poll shows that Obama has a large lead over the potential Republican presidential candidates polled. The poll also shows that the strongest Republican challenger is former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.

In addition to leading the Republican candidates in electoral scenarios, Obama has an approval rating of 55 percent and a disapproval rating of 40 percent.

Johnson was also the strongest Republican candidate in a U.S. Senate poll. Johnson is widely seen as angling for a Republican run at president in 2012.

The next closest candidate besides Gary Johnson’s 15 point deficit to Obama (51 percent to 36 percent) is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who trails 53 percent to 37 percent. Obama leads former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee 55 percent to 36 percent, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich 56 percent to 35 percent and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin 62 percent to 33 percent.

“At this rate, New Mexico may not even be considered a swing state,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Despite Democrats’ difficulties last year, the West—including Colorado and Nevada—is turning more and more solid blue.”

The poll does have a high number of Democrats in the sample: 55 percent Democrats compared to  29 percent Republicans and 16 percent independents or other parties. According to the Secretary of State, as of January 31 of this year, 49 percent of registered voters are Democrats, 32 percent are Republicans, 16 percent are decline to state, or Independent, and 3 percent are registered with other parties.

Obama holds large leads among both Democrats and ” decline to state” voters against all candidates. The Republican with the most support from “decline to state” and third-party voters is Johnson who received support from 29 percent. Palin had the lowest support, just 22 percent. Obama had the backing of between 53 percent of “decline to state” and independent voters, against Johnson, to 73 percent, against Palin.

“One thing that’s particularly notable within the numbers and bodes quite well for Obama is that he actually leads Palin and Gingrich with white voters, ties Huckabee, and trails Johnson and Romney by only 3 and 4 points respectively,” Tom Jensen, Director of PPP wrote. “If you can come close to breaking even as a Democrat with white voters in New Mexico you’ve got it won, given that Obama has anywhere from a 35-52 point lead with the Hispanic vote that’s only becoming a larger and larger portion of the electorate in the state.”

Though Sarah Palin’s endorsement helped Martinez lock up the nomination the candidate now seems to be seeking distance telling CNN, “You know Sarah Palin’s endorsement was in the primary. We were pleased to have it. We were pleased to have everyone else’s endorsement.” Asked if she would support Palin for President she punts saying “you know I am not focused on Sarah Palin at this point.”

One likely reason that Martinez won’t commit to backing Palin is that a number of other potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates have helped her out on the campaign trail.

Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Virginia Senator George Allen and other candidates have donated to Martinez’s campaign and/or made campaign appearances on behalf of Martinez.

The letter, which carries a standard “donate” button at the bottom, goes on to attempt to tie Pearce to Sarah Palin, who was widely criticized last year for, telling a conservative talk radio host: “I think the public rightfully is still making [Obama's birth certificate] an issue.”

Palin quickly backtracked with a post on her Facebook page saying:  ”…at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.”

Here’s the full text of the letter from the Democratic Party of New Mexico:

Dear Supporter,

Earlier this week, former Congressman Steve Pearce joined the controversial “Birther” movement by questioning whether or nor President Obama was born in the United States.

At a campaign stop in Los Lunas, Steve Pearce said Congress should look deeper into the issue of Obama’s citizenship and that he would support a Senate investigation into the matter. (Click here to view the video).

Volunteer to help us reject Congressman Pearce and his extreme views.

And, just last night, Pearce announced he had received the endorsement of Sarah Palin – an endorsement which he accepted with arms wide open as he continues to push his plan to put a 23% tax on everything New Mexico families buy – like milk, gas, school supplies, and even green chile!

Questioning the President’s citizenship, accepting Sarah Palin’s endorsement and supporting higher taxes all send the same message: Steve Pearce is too extreme and out of touch for Southern New Mexico.

With just 25 days to go before Election Day, we need to stand with Harry Teague and make sure that the Palin-Pearce agenda doesn’t make its way back to Congress – click here to volunteer in your community and spread the word that Steve Pearce and Sarah Palin are too extreme and out of touch for Southern New Mexico.

Many tea party organizers have condemned the resolution and Sarah Palin said she was “saddened by the NAACP’s claim that patriotic Americans … are somehow racists.”

In April The Independent reported on a University of Washington study of race and politics showing how supporters of the tea party movement—the vast majority of whom are white—view blacks and Hispanics.  Of the 45 percent of whites who said they strongly or somewhat approve of the tea party movement, the study report showed, “only 35 percent believe Blacks to be hardworking, only 45 percent believe Blacks are intelligent, and only 41 percent think that Blacks are trustworthy.”

“The poll asked people how they’d respond if a Congressional candidate had various hypothetical attributes,” Sargent wrote. And the poll found that being endorsed by Palin was a definite drag on the candidate — just 8 percent were enthusiastic about this attribute and 17 percent were comfortable with it. Meanwhile, 52 percent either had “some reservations” or were “very uncomfortable” with this attribute.

While the poll looked only at Congressional candidates, it could provide a window into the governor’s race – Palin has endorsed Republican candidate Susana Martinez.

Ten percent would be enthusiastic and 26 percent would be comfortable with a candidate who was endorsed by President Barack Obama. And 43 percent would “have some reservations” or would be “very uncomfortable” with a candidate who was endorsed by Obama.

The poll finds that supporting Arizona’s new immigration law is an attribute that 46 percent would be “enthusiastic about” or “comfortable with” while 38 percent would “have some reservations about” would be “very uncomfortable” with a candidate who has this view.

“There were only two attributes a candidate might have that were seen as worse than a Palin endorsement: Supporting Bush’s economic policies; and supporting the elimination of various Federal agencies and/or Social Security,” Sargent wrote.

You can look at the full results of the NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll here. The poll reached 1,000 adults, including 200 reached by cell phone, from June 17-21 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.