Romney “Surges”

A Suffolk poll claims that Romney has "become the clear front-runner" now that Huckabee and Trump are out:

In the GOP primary, Romney’s 20 percent was followed by Sarah Palin (12 percent), Newt Gingrich (9 percent), Rudy Giuliani (7 percent), Ron Paul (5 percent), Michele Bachmann (4 percent), Herman Cain (4 percent), Mitch Daniels (4 percent), Tim Pawlenty (3 percent) and Rick Santorum (3 percent), with 20 percent undecided. Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer all received less than 1 percent.

Allahpundit retorts that an "eight-point lead … over a candidate who’s not even a candidate yet must surely be the thinnest 'frontrunner' status in political history":

What if Palin jumps in and instantly siphons off the bulk of support from “true conservative” all-stars like Bachmann and Herman Cain? The elites will go into panic mode and look to rally around a single centrist-type candidate in hopes of heading her off, but there are potentially four prominent governors in the race capable of filling that role — Romney, Pawlenty, Daniels, and Huntsman. How will the establishment choose one and then clear out the rest in order to pose a clear “Palin/Not Palin” choice for primary voters? The answer, presumably, lies with New Hampshire. If the winner in Iowa looks like he/she could sweep all the way to the nomination, then the winner of the de facto centrist primary in NH will be anointed the best bet to stop them.