7 in 10 Say Palin Not Qualified to Be President

Fifty-six percent of Americans thinks Sarah Palin cares about people like them, something which many Republican presidential candidates have not shared, but 71 percent don't think she's qualified to sit in the Oval Office, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Oct. 16-18. Republicans believe she's qualified by 52 percent to 47 percent.

Palin is viewed unfavorably by 51 percent with 42 percent seeing her favorably.

"Sarah Palin has one advantage that many past Republican candidates have not shared -- Americans think she cares about people like them," said CNN's Keating Holland. "But her biggest Achilles' heel is the number who think she is not qualified to be president. Those numbers are similar to what Dan Quayle got in 1993, when only 23 percent thought he was ready for the White House."

In a trial heat for 2012, Mike Huckabee leads, as he has in other such polls at this point, with 32 percent. Palin gets 25 percent, Mitt Romney polls 21 percent and 5 percent back Tim Pawlenty. The margin of error is 4.5 points for the GOP sample.

"Huckabee appears to have more support among Republicans than Palin, and her unfavorable rating among all Americans is twice as high as Huckabee's," Holland said. "Palin may attract a lot of attention, but the GOP may be looking elsewhere for their frontrunner."