It may be getting time for the White House to polish up on that well-worn political line that public opinion polls don’t matter.

President Barack Obama got hit with a one-two polling punch today.

It’s never too early to talk about the presidential election that’s coming in 2012, they were talking about it during the last one even before the ballots were cast.

Rasmussen Reports in a national survey asked 1,000 likely voters who they would pick for president if the election was held now: Democrat Obama or Republican Mitt Romney.

The answer: EVEN at 45 percent each.

But wait, it gets a bit more complicated.

In choosing between Obama and Republican Sarah Palin the poll came in at 42 percent for Palin compared with 48 percent for Obama.

It seems that her resignation as governer and the anonymous badmouthing about her time on the campaign trail as a vice presidential candidate has rolled off like water off a duck.

But in a three-way race, Obama wins, Palin loses, and Romney gets stuck in the middle.

The poll comes as a Washington Post-ABC News poll shows public approval of Obama’s handling of healthcare reform falling below 50 percent for the first time.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (Voters get ballots on election day November 2008)

Former, and perhaps future, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney raked in some serious cash — $1.6 million — for his political action committee during the first half of 2009, despite the recession.

Romney, who dropped out of the 2008 presidential campaign after poor showings in the early primaries despite raising huge sums of money, is considered one of the untainted potential candidates for 2012. Problems saddling fellow Republicans like outgoing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Nevada Senator John Ensign have put their presidential aspirations in question.

In addition to trying to stockpile some cash in case he decides he will make another White House bid, Romney donated $5,000 to Missouri Republican Representative Roy Blunt, who is running for Senate in 2010, and Republican Bob McDonnell, who is seeking Virginia’s governorship.

Romney also gave $1,000 to Representative Mark Kirk, who has been weighing a bid for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois.  Kirk has wavered on whether to run for the open seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Roland Burris.

One of the biggest recipients of Romney’s largess was the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, which got $10,000.  He served as governor of neighboring Massachusetts.

Romney’s PAC ended the six-month period with almost $850,000 in cash on hand.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Romney at the 2008 Republican National Convention)

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain had kind words for two of his possible vice presidential picks in recent days but dropped nothing more than hints about his eventual choice.

With the Republican convention starting next Monday, McCain is expected to name his running mate in the coming days — possibly at a rally in the swing state of Ohio on Friday, his 72nd birthday.

At a fundraising event in San Diego on Tuesday evening, he praised Mitt Romney , once a bitter rival for the Republican nomination who has now become a strong advocate for McCain on cable news shows.

“He does better on television for me than he did for himself,” McCain joked, reviving a line he has used before to acknowledge Romney’s efforts.

On NBC’s Tonight show on Monday, he lauded Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty when host Jay Leno mentioned him.

“He’s a great young man,” McCain said. “He’s a great governor of his state, and he’s done a great job, and he was reelected in 2006. It was a tough year for Republicans.”

Leno suggested Pawlenty could get “eaten alive” in a vice presidential debate with Sen. Joe Biden, the foreign policy heavyweight chosen by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as his running mate.

McCain did not agree and joked that the real difficulty would be Biden’s propensity for verbosity.

“The problem for any of them might be getting a word in edgewise,” he said. 

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ALBUQUERQUE - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday his search for a vice presidential running mate is proving difficult because he has many qualified candidates.

A host of high-profile names have been circulating for weeks who McCain might be considering for vice president, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

At a town hall meeting in Albuquerque, McCain specifically took a question from a youngster described as a reporter, and the youth asked him about his vice presidential search.

McCain said the search “is somewhat difficult because we have so many highly qualified individuals” to consider.

He gave no names. But he said he was operating under a specific timeline that he hopes to meet “well before.”

McCain has said he wants to announce his choice before the Republican nominating convention in St. Paul in early September.

He has given few clues as to who he might pick, but McCain told a fund-raising event in Albuquerque on Monday night that he and Romney, who McCain defeated in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, have become good friends.

It was only a few months ago when the two were at each other’s throat in the often-acrimonious campaign.

“Mitt and Ann Romney and Cindy and I have become good friends,” he said in describing how he feels the Republican Party is united now for the battle against Barack Obama for the Nov. 4 election.

In fact, he said, based on Romney’s television appearances on McCain’s behalf, “He does a better job for me than he did for himself, as a matter of fact.”

He also praised other Republican one-time rivals Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani.

Photo credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (McCain, Romney at a meeting March 27)

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

ALBUQUERQUE - For those of you keeping track of who Republican presidential candidate John McCain might pick as his vice presidential running mate, consider this:                
McCain told a fundraising event in Albuquerque that he and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whom McCain defeated in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, have become good friends.

It was only a few months ago when the two were at each other’s throats in the often-acrimonious campaign.

“Mitt and Ann Romney and Cindy and I have become good friends,” McCain said in describing how he feels the Republican Party is united now for the battle against Barack Obama for the Nov. 4 election.

In fact, he said, based on Romney’s television appearances on McCain’s behalf, “He does a better job for me than he did for himself, as a matter of fact.”

Photo credit: Reuters/Ramin Rahimian (McCain and Romney in March 27 meeting)

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain spent a marathon day raising money on Monday, and it went well: after events in Virginia and Washington, D.C., the campaign and the Republican Party pulled in more than $2 million.
 
“We won’t raise as much money as our opponent but we certainly will raise (a) sufficient amount of money to win this election,” the Arizona senator told a gathering at a Ritz Carlton hotel in Northern Virginia.
 
His opponent, of course, is Democrat Barack Obama, who has consistently broken records with his fundraising in the primary contests.
 
McCain congratulated Obama on his victory over rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic nominating battle but needled the Illinois senator for a lack of experience by saying the White House was not a place for on-the-job training.
 
McCain was certainly on the job bringing in cash. One event included tickets to a “victory dinner” and two receptions for a contribution — raised or donated — of $50,000. Whew.
 
And even those lobbyists out there got a thank-you.
 
“I’m going to thank some corrupt unscrupulous lobbyists that are destroying America as we speak, everything we stand for and believe in,” McCain joked at one fundraiser. 
 
Right.
 
Finally, there was praise for his opponent-turned-supporter, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
 
“There’s nobody who represents me better today than Mitt Romney,” McCain said.
 
Are you listening, governor? That could be the sound of a vice presidential offer coming down the road …

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Photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria. McCain talks at a news conference after visiting the Everglades Safari Park in Miami, Florida, June 6, 2008.

PARK CITY, Utah - Republican White House hopeful John McCain wants help from President George W. Bush to raise money for his campaign, but has done plenty to downplay the unpopular president’s presence on the trail.
 
Bush headlined three closed-door fundraisers in Arizona and Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday, hauling in millions of dollars for McCain but there was only a brief public glimpse of the two men together, for less than a minute. Plus, McCain skipped two of the events.
 
Bush’s fundraiser in Arizona with McCain was originally scheduled to be open to  reporters, but McCain’s campaign keeps its fundraisers closed to the press so the event was moved to a private home to keep it out of the public eye.
 
McCain’s campaign also refused to release any details about how much Bush was helping raise at the three events, but the one with McCain present brought in roughly $2.5 million, according to sources close to the campaign who declined to be identified.
 
Details from the other two fundraisers were scarce, though the one Wednesday evening in the posh ski resort area of Park City, Utah, was hosted by Mitt Romney, a former investment banker who had been a McCain rival in the hunt for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
 
Democrats have tried to paint McCain as no different than the current White House occupant, arguing that the Arizona senator would represent a “third term” of Bush if elected to the White House in November, citing his steadfast support of Bush’s plan for the Iraq war and making tax cuts permanent.
 
In addition to limiting public exposure with Bush, McCain has differed with him on how to address climate change and said he would pursue nuclear arms reduction talks with Russia and China as part of a foreign policy that brings back “broad-minded internationalism and determined diplomacy.”
 
The growing distance between the two brings up the question of how McCain will handle Bush at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul in early September.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (McCain sees Bush off at the Phoenix airport after a private fundraiser.)

WASHINGTON - Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who disappointed some conservatives earlier this year for unexpectedly dropping his White House bid, jumped back on to the political scene over the last 24 hours.

First we found out on Wednesday that the ex-Massachusetts governor and investment banker was taking a sojourn out to Arizona to meet with former rival and the presumed Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain — along with others who have been mentioned as possible vice presidential running mates.

And now Romney on Thursday announced he has formed a political action committee – Free and Strong America PAC — to help struggling Republicans running for Congress this year as well as his now-close friend McCain who has lagged the Democratic presidential hopefuls in fund-raising.

McCain raised $18.5 million in April,  less than the $21 million hauled in by rivals New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and $30.7 million by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

“The PAC will support candidates running for all levels of office in the current 2008 cycle, starting at the top of the ticket with Republican presidential candidate John McCain,” the group said in a statement.

Congressional Republicans are facing a tough campaign this season, with more than two dozen members of the House of Representatives retiring or leaving to run for another office, far more than Democrats. Additionally, in the last few months Democrats have won three special elections to fill vacant House seats in traditionally Republican districts.

Besides McCain, Romney’s PAC identified other Republicans it plans to help this campaign season, found here.

President George W. Bush, whose popularity ratings are plumbing new lows, has been doing some fund-raising for congressional candidates, but many of recent have been behind closed doors.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (McCain and Romney at a news conference in March in Colorado.)

MIAMI - Republican John McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” bus took a little detour today, depositing McCain at a Cuban-American restaurant in Little Havana.

McCain, who likes to keep a cup of coffee at his side most of the time, decided to sample the espresso served up at Cafe Versailles, ordering a cup at a window for ordering items to go.

Taking a sip from the small ceramic cup, he must have found it a pretty strong brew. He pumped his fist as he tasted the coffee.

“Do I have any enamel on my teeth?” he asked. “Delicious!”

This was after McCain stopped at La Casa del Preso, a memorial to deceased and current political prisoners in Cuba. After a tour inside, he spoke to a group of Cuban-Americans gathered outside.

“Buenas tardes,” he told them, then admitted that was pretty much the extent of his knowledge of the Spanish language.

In English, he proceeded to criticize Cuba’s communist government and vowed that sooner or later the Cuban people would be free.

Somebody in the crowd thought McCain should pick a vanquished Republican adversary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, as his vice presidential running mate.

“Romney for vice,” was one sign held up by people in the crowd.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria (McCain speaks at town hall meeting in Miami)

DENVER, Colo. - Mitt Romney , until a few weeks ago Sen. John McCain’s rival in a sometimes bitter contest for the Republican Party presidential nomination, says getting back on the campaign trail with the presumptive nominee is fun.

Romney traded blows with McCain for several weeks earlier this year before dropping out of the race and conceding defeat after losing crucial primary contests on Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

With past battles behind them, Romney joined the Arizona senator in Salt Lake City, Utah, at a fund-raising event on Thursday, and then flew with him to Denver, Colorado.

“It’s a lot of fun again. It’s nice not to feel any pressure at all, I don’t have to worry about goofing up,” he told reporters on the flight over the Rocky Mountains.

“I can just stand behind the nominee and do my very best to support his campaign.”

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, and Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah stood beside McCain at the campaign stop in Salt Lake City in a show of party unity.

McCain said he hoped Romney would join him on the campaign trail in the weeks ahead as he sought to energize the party in the run up to the election in November.

He will face Democrats Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois or Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (McCain (L) listens to Romney at a news conference in Denver on March 27, 2008)