According to New Hampshire law, the first-in-the-nation presidential primary is slated for March 13, 2012. Of course, it'll likely be much sooner than that; seven days before any other primary is scheduled. In 2008, it was held January 8.

All this is to point out how early it is to be polling the state. But NowHampshire.com has released what may be the first state-specific public survey of the Granite State. Not surprisingly, former Gov. Mitt Romney has a solid lead.

Primary Election Matchup
Romney 50
Palin 17
Huckabee 17
Gingrich 13
Pawlenty 3

The poll was conducted electronically by Populus Research on August 10 and 11, among 403 likely Republican primary voters and with a margin of error of +/- 5 percent. It should be noted that without a Democratic primary in 2012, the GOP race will include many undeclared and even some Democratic voters, too.

NowHampshire gets some perspective from former McCain campaign chief Mike Dennehy.

"Gov. Romney worked very hard here in 2008. He maintains a lot of support. It's interesting to see the way Palin and Huckabee compete for almost the same voters and end up splitting their support," Dennehy said.

Dennehy also noted that New Hampshire is an environment that might ultimately embrace someone like Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota or some other candidate who has not yet indicated interest in the Republican nomination.

"New Hampshire loves underdogs," he said.