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Former CNN television personality Lou Dobbs already has a base of supporters among citizens and politicians for a potential 2012 presidential bid, according to his spokesman.

Dobbs, who recently left his position at CNN, said on a Washington radio program yesterday that he would consider running for president. He repeated that assertion on a radio interview with 2008 GOP presidential contender Fred Thompson.

Dobbs' spokesman Robert Dillenschneider told the Washington Post this morning that Dobbs is considering "30 different opportunities" to pursue in the future.

"Since the day he left CNN, his phone has been ringing off the hook," Dillenschneider reportedly said, with calls from business and television executives, as well as "politicians who are both on the right and some in the center, who are independent."

"Some say he should run for Robert Menendez's seat," representing New Jersey in the Senate, he said, "and that might morph into something larger. It's just incredible what's happened."

Web sites already exist to promote Dobbs' political ambitions, like loudobbs4president.com and www.loudobbsforpresident.org. Dobbs in 2007 was already hinting at a presidential run, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Former CNN television personality Lou Dobbs has said in recent days he is considering running for public office, and this morning he suggested he would consider a run for the highest office in the country.

"What's so crazy about that?" Dobbs responded when an anchor with Washington's WTOP radio station laughed about the possibility of Dobbs running for president in 2012. Politico's Glenn Thrush has a recording of the radio interview.

Dobbs said that he has had discussions about it and that he is, for the first time, "actually listening to people about politics."

"I don't think I've got the nature for it, but... we've got to do something in this country," Dobbs said. "I think that being in the public arena means you've got to be part of the solution."

Dobbs added that he is reaching out to Latino groups, the Chamber of Commerce and "all of the groups with whom I have been in an ongoing debate... to try to bridge some of these conflicts and try to create solutions."

Latino groups have long charged that Dobbs' show on CNN was racist in its emphasis on illegal immigration and cheered his departure from CNN.

Dobbs earlier revealed he is considering a Senate run in New Jersey.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is keeping quiet on her plans for 2012, but recent polls and political analysis suggest it's too soon to count her out as a political heavyweight.

Palin has drummed up a great deal of media attention on her nationwide book tour, which takes the former GOP vice presidential candidate to Iowa next month. A new poll out of the state -- a key state in presidential primaries -- shows that Republicans in the state highly approve of Palin.

As many as 68 percent of Iowa Republicans view Palin favorably, according to the Des Moines Register's Iowa poll. Palin ranked higher than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won 66 percent of Iowa Republicans' approval. She also beat out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is viewed favorably by 58 percent of the state's GOP voters.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, still has higher approval ratings than Palin at 70 percent, according to the poll. A comparison with Huckabee's numbers also reveal Palin's weaknesses. Twice as many Iowa Republicans hold an unfavorable view of Palin as they do of Huckabee. Meanwhile, moderates view Huckabee more than twice as favorably as Palin.

Fifty-five percent of all Iowa residents, including Democrats, hold an unfavorable opinion of Palin, according to the poll, while only 8 percent say they are unsure about her.

While it could appear that voters have already formed an opinion about the former governor, her book tour may be boosting her popularity. Palin's popularity numbers have edged up in national polls in recent months, to the point where they nearly equal to President Obama's, Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times reports.

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The election may still be three years away, but it seems it’s never too early to speculate: A USA Today/Gallup poll sizing up the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates was released today. Taking the top spot? Former Arkansas governor (and 2008 presidential hopeful) Mike Huckabee.

The poll found that the top four Republican contenders for the presidential nomination are Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. Seventy-one percent of declared Republicans would "seriously consider" voting for Huckabee, 65 would consider voting for Romney and for Palin, and 60 percent would consider voting for Gingrich.

Among Americans overall, the order remains the same: Huckabee leads, with 40 percent saying they would seriously consider voting for him. Romney closely follows with 39 percent. He’s followed by Palin with 33 percent and Gingrich with 29 percent.

The results suggest that the identity of Obama's 2012 opponent will rest largely on who is selected by "the Republic faithful," even in states with open primaries. No more than 20 percent of Democrats and no more than 40 percent of independent voters say they would consider voting for any one candidate.

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** Democrats scramble to get the votes for a Saturday health care vote...

** After the elections, Dems rethink their priorities...

** Gearing up for 2010 and 2012...

HEALTH CARE: "House Democratic leaders are pushing for a Saturday vote on their sweeping health-care bill, but they are struggling to win over shaky rank-and-file members who could hold up its passage," report the Wall Street Journal's Janet Adamy and Martin Vaughan.

"As of Wednesday, House leaders didn't appear to have secured the 218 votes they need to pass the bill. They were moving to quickly swear in two Democrats elected Tuesday, which would give the party 258 seats in the House and allow leaders to lose as many as 40 Democratic votes without losing their majority. No Republicans are expected to vote for the bill. ... House leaders spent Wednesday scrambling to secure votes from freshmen and lawmakers in swing districts. 'This is not a popular thing in many parts of the country,' said Rep. Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.)."

The Washington Post's Lori Montgomery adds, "Many Democrats said passing the measure has become even more crucial politically after Republicans won governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey this week. So Democratic whips worked their rank and file, while House leaders tried to secure a momentum-building endorsement from the AARP, the nation's largest association of people over 50. President Obama, meanwhile, laid plans to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday or Friday to address House Democrats in a final push for his signature domestic initiative."

The New York Times' Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, "Haggling Over Abortion Deal in Health Bill": "The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, a supporter of abortion rights, has little choice but to heed the concerns of members of her caucus who oppose abortion. As many as 40 House Democrats, a potentially decisive bloc, have threatened to oppose the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion...

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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is once again making headlines by publicly pondering a 2012 presidential bid.

Yesterday, as Politics Daily and Politico report, Gingrich talked about a possible bid on CSPAN's Washington Journal.

In the interview, Gingrich said he would make the decision in February of 2011 and that probably would run if he and his wife, Callista, decided that they feel "a requirement as citizens that we run," which would be based on how they asses the other candidates running for the Republican nomination.

"We are going to reach out to all of our friends around the country," Gingrich said. "And we'll decide, if there's a requirement as citizens that we run, I suspect we probably will. And if there's not a requirement… if other people have filled the vacuum, I suspect we won't."

When pressed by host Steve Scully about what factors would play into the decision, Gingrich said it would hinge on whether there is another candidate in the field who aligns with his message.

Gingrich said he thought politics should be "about ideas" and that the Republican Party needed to offer alternatives rather than to just oppose Democrats.

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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be the wrong pick for Republicans in the 2012 presidential race, but she was a strong vice presidential candidate in 2008, according to a top presidential campaign adviser for Sen. John McCain.

Steve Schmidt, who served as McCain's chief strategist in the 2008 election, said Wednesday that putting Palin on the ticket energized the Republican party, according to the Associated Press.

"There was huge excitement that transformed the race," Schmidt reportedly said in a talk delivered at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. "I believe to this day that had she not been picked as a vice presidential candidate, we would have never been ahead, not for one second, not for one minute, not for one hour, not for one day."

Earlier this month, Schmidt called Palin a "catastrophic" choice for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. He was asked if he stood by those remarks.

"I said what I said on the 2012 (race). … I said what I said today," Schmidt replied, according to Arkansas News.

Still, he said Palin remains a formidable force within the party and has "great talents" for politics.

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Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET with more information.

Calling Sarah Palin a potentially "catastrophic" choice for the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, John McCain's former chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt said today the Republican party needs to look more toward the center.

"I think she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican party in 2012," he said. "Were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election result."

Palin, the former Alaska governor and Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate in the 2008 election, has fueled speculation that she could vie for the Republican nomination in the next presidential election with the upcoming release of her new book, "Going Rogue." When asked today at The First Draft of History conference in Washington, D.C. how he would be portrayed in Palin's book, Schmidt replied, "I think it may say I was anti-rogue in the running of the campaign."

It is not inconceivable Palin could win the 2012 Republican nomination, Schmidt said -- but it is inconceivable she could win the presidency.

"In the year since the election has ended she's done nothing to expand her appeal beyond [her conservative] base," he said. President Obama has already lost the support of the middle of the electorate, Schmidt argued, and "that independent vote is going to be up for grabs in 2012."

Democratic strategist Robert Shrum, also speaking at the conference, contended that those independent voters are more likely to seek out third party candidates because of the Republican party's current dearth of ideas.

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What happens when a political party doesn't have one voice speaking for it?

The floor is wide open to everyone: radio talk show hosts, party chairmen, former presidential candidates, former vice presidential nominees, governors, members of Congress, and those who used to be in power but no longer hold office.

Example: former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania.

Yes, the same Rick Santorum who lost his U.S. Senate seat in 2006 with only 41 percent of the vote.

The same Rick Santorum who's a Sarah Palin-esque lightning rod who regularly sent the left into a tizzy with his anti-abortion rights and anti-homosexual views.

Well, this week, he's headed to Iowa - the first in the nation presidential caucus state - to deliver speeches in Des Moines and Dubuque, not because he's running for president in 2012 ("It's three years away. ... I have no plans. ... it's not that I'm not going to plan...") but because, as he told reporters on a conference call today, the Republican Party "needs to have voices out there to try to direct the opposition."

"We're the opposition party and we're not doing a heck of a job in my mind of articulating why we're opposing and, just as importantly, articulating solutions to the problems that confront America and this is an opportunity for me to do that," Santorum said.

Two weeks ago, however, he was a little more forward about his 2012 interest.

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Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who is seen as a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, is launching a Political Action Committee called "Freedom First."

"I expect it will launch within the next few weeks," Pawlenty adviser Alex Conant said. "When the governor said he wouldn't seek re-election, he said in addition to finishing his term strong, he would help other Republicans candidates, and obviously a PAC is one key way to do that."

Launching a PAC is a standard move for politicians laying the groundwork for a presidential run. Pawlenty has announced he will not run for a third term as governor next year.

"Pawlenty setting up this PAC is a clear indication that he's eyeing federal office - perhaps a 2012 presidential run," said CBS News political director Steve Chaggaris. "And setting it up provides him with money to financially support Republican candidates around the country - picking up political chits along the way - as well as fund his own political travel. Fellow potential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin all have their own federal PACs up and running."

"To truly gauge what his intentions are, it'll bears watching to see how he spends his PAC money over the next 18 months: which political candidates he contributes to (and which important presidential primary/caucus states they represent) and which states he travels to," Chaggaris continued. "Once the likes of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina start showing up on those lists, it'll be clear that a presidential run in 2012 is on his mind."

The first fundraiser for Pawlenty's PAC will be November 4th in Minneapolis; entry to the reception is $1,000, and entry to the dinner is $5,000. To become an event chair for the event, a person must raise $100,000, which entitles them to two tickets to a private dessert reception with the governor as well as 20 tickets to the reception and dinner.

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