Poll: GOP Favorites Aren't Running

Politico reports:

Three prominent Republicans who have all said they have no interest in running for president, at least in 2012, poll strongly among GOP primary voters, as some party stalwarts glance longingly at any alternatives to the current crop of White House contenders.

Gen. David Petraeus has a net-favorable rating of 54 percentage points in a Gallup poll released Monday, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) also do well among Republicans, with net positives of 29 points and 27 points, respectively.

But all three men would, to differing degrees, need to step up their public relations efforts if they were to consider a presidential run. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed said they had no opinion of Christie, who has been in office for less than a year and a half. Thirty-two percent said they had no opinion of Petraeus, and 21 percent said the same of Bush, whose last name is considered by strategists to be both a strength and a weakness.

Perhaps more importantly: All three have denied wanting to run for president in the current cycle.