... In South Dakota. Which historically is one of the final primary dates on the calendar.

But, hey, it's a lead. Furthermore, he is also the most electable Republican in New Mexico, according to PPP.

Aside from those headlines, and with the holiday party season in full swing, it looks like the pollsters across the country tried to do a solid for the political junkies among us. On Friday, the polling flood we have seen lately flowed to just a trickle.

That single primary poll out of the heartland, coupled with just a handful of general election trial heats, means that the Polling Wrap tonight is gonna be a pretty quick read. The load here is so light we don't even need to dive beneath the fold to plow through the Friday data.

So grab that second (?) cup of egg nog, and dive right in.

SOUTH DAKOTA (Nielson Brothers--R): Paul 22, Gingrich 19, Bachmann 18, Perry 15, Romney 10



Shame on the crew at Nielson Brothers for not anticipating the possibility of a Santorum or Huntsman surge in the state. And what about Libertaria-publican sweetheart Gary Johnson? Simply a tragic oversight on their part.

In all seriousness, this poll doesn't tell us all that much. South Dakota is at the end of the queue when it comes to primary polling, meaning this poll is coming roughly six months ahead of the actual voting there. How many of these five will still be there in June? Ron Paul probably will, but chances are there won't be a quintet of Republicans come the South Dakota primary.

The Rasmussen poll here, actually, is a bit telling. Rasmussen just had Newt Gingrich being blasted by Obama by double digits a couple of days ago. Therefore, Rasmussen is calling for a particularly wide "electability gap" that stretches into the double digits.

PPP, in a shrewd move, took a shot at a three-way tabulation with current GOP hopeful (but very possible Libertarian candidate) Gary Johnson as the third wheel. This was a good way of measuring the high point of Johnson's candidacy—New Mexico, after all, is his home state. Against Mitt Romney, Johnson was a close third: Obama led with 44 percent, with Romney at 27 percent and Johnson at 23 percent. Against Newt Gingrich, the margin was identical (45-28-20), but Johnson didn't swipe quite as many votes.

As for the South Dakota poll, that would be a marked decrease in Obama performance from 2008 (when he actually competed in the state, losing by just eight percent). But, recall, this is a GOP sympathetic pollster, so bring a grain or two of salt. Having said that, however, it'd be pretty shocking if the president contested South Dakota. I don't doubt a double-digit deficit, and reversing that would require more effort than three electoral votes probably merits.