Left-leaning pollster Public Policy Polling recently conducted a  head-to-head match up poll involving a series of potential Republican nominees and Barack Obama in a hypothetical run for the presidency. The results don’t bode well for the liberal incumbent.

In fact, the only hypothetical Republican challenger Obama beats is Governor Jane Brewer of Arizona. Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich would all defeat The One. Even Sarah Palin would tie.

With his approval numbers hitting new lows it’s no surprise that Barack Obama’s numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month. He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46. The only person tested he leads is Jan Brewer, who doesn’t have particularly high name recognition on the national level at this point.

It’s not that any of the Republican candidates are particularly well liked. Only Huckabee has positive favorability numbers at 37/28. Romney’s at 32/33, Gingrich at 32/42, Palin at 37/52, and Brewer at 17/20. But with a majority of Americans now disapproving of Obama it’s no surprise that a large chunk of them would replace him as President if they had that choice today.

There are two things driving these strong poll numbers for the Republican candidates. The first is a lead with independents in every match up. Romney leads 48-35 with them, Gingrich is up 50-39, Huckabee has a 46-40 advantage, Palin’s up 47-42, and even Brewer has a 38-37 edge.

In short, Obama is so disliked by the electorate at this point that even a relatively disliked Republican challenger can defeat him on the “I’m Not Obama” line alone. That should have Congressional Democrats, who have long anchored their rafts to the USS Obama, more than a bit worried.