WSJ/NBC poll: Trump vaults to second place

A new WSJ/NBC poll shows Donald Trump surging past Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin in a hypothetical 2012 primary.

1. Mitt Romney 21%

2. Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee 17%

4. Newt Gingrich 11%

5. Sarah Palin 10%

6. Tim Pawlenty 6%

7. Michele Bachmann 5%

8. Rick Santorum 3%

9. Haley Barbour 1%

Notes: Really remarkable -- not because it suggests Trump has a shot at winning the nomination, because he doesn't have much of one -- but because it shows the tremendous thirst for a new, charismatic candidate.

If Trump can get 17% by going on Fox and talking for a few minutes about a possible run, imagine what Chris Christie could do by saying he was open to a bid.

I'm not sure what to make of the birther-Trump surge hypothesis.

Is he gaining in the polls, because of his birther sympathies, or only because it's getting him huge attention, and big attention can orient people your way in what might be a name ID poll?

The other big story from this poll -- Sarah Palin's continued fade.

Not only does Romney double her, but both Huck and Trump have solid edges on her, and even Newt Gingrich edges past.