The Hill News

A plurality of South Dakota's likely voters said they'd support a White House bid by Sen. John Thune (R) in 2012.

Forty-one percent of Thune's constituents said that their senator, who's expected to cruise to re-election to a second term on Nov. 2, should run for president.

Thirty-five percent of the state's likely voters said Thune, the fourth-ranking GOP senator, should not challenge President Obama in 2012, while 24 percent of South Dakotans were undecided, according to a new Argus Leader/KELO-TV survey released on Monday.

The survey, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, suggests that Thune might h! ave a window of opportunity to pursue a run for president without having to worry about alienating home-state voters who might be frustrated by the conservative if he were to decide to run. Serious campaigns for the White House often require extensive out-of-state focus, often on states that hold nominating contests early in the 2012 cycle.

Republican voters were especially supportive of a Thune candidacy, with 55 percent saying they'd support a presidential campaign. A plurality of independent voters in the state, 41-29 percent, said they would support Thune if he were to run.

Thune's been coy about his ultimate intentions, though he's been among the handful of Republicans to steadily crack open the door toward deciding to run. He told the Argus Leader that the new survey was all ! "hypothe tical."

The poll, conducted Oct. 20-21, has a 3.5 percent margin of error.