Yes, but 51% believe Hillary Clinton's views are mainstream:

Among five top contenders for the White House in 2012, only former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is viewed as more extreme than the president. Just 38% say Palin's views are mainstream, while 55% regard them as extreme.

Mitt Romney, the ex-Massachusetts governor who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, is considered mainstream by 45% and extreme by 33%. Twenty-two percent (22%), however, are not sure about his views.

Forty-four percent (44%) say the views of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, another unsuccessful 2008 GOP hopeful, are in the mainstream. Thirty-eight percent (38%) think Huckabee is extreme, and another 18% are not sure.

It's important to note that the questions did not define "mainstream" or "extreme."

Like Palin, Reagan, too, was seen as "extreme" by residents of the East Coast. The Gipper, in one of his more inspired quips, used to say that he was considered acceptable by the vast majority of his western countrymen but began to grow "horns and a tail once I crossed the Mississippi."

Such is the power of the media to shape the perception of those they don't like.