Majority Of Tea Partiers Would Not Vote For Sarah Palin

by Glynnis MacNicol | 8:51 am, April 19th, 2010

» 10 comments

Because what we are lacking these days is extensive information about who the Tea Partiers are and what they want, Politico has followed up last week’s huge NYT/CBS poll with one of their own. Politico apparently decided to take advantage of the huge tax day protests that descended on Washington last Thursday to ask some pertinent questions.

As with the NYT poll none of the results are all that surprising: “the attendees were largely hostile to President Barack Obama and the national Democratic Party — three-quarters believe the president “is pursuing a socialist agenda.” I think that last bit may eventually be known at the Glenn Beck Effect.

The poll also noted that the group was split within itself into two separate groups, those that are libertarian-minded, and those that are “culturally conservative and equally concerned about social and fiscal issues.” Subsequently, it’s not at all surprising that the party at large admires two distinct figures as best representing what the movement stands for: Ron Paul and Sarah Palin. What is interesting is that despite this support the majority of Tea Partiers would not consider voting for either: “Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they would not even consider voting for Palin if she ran for president in 2012; 59 percent said the same thing of Paul.”

And there you have the major problem the Republicans are facing distilled down to one poll result: the GOP is utterly lacking in reliable leadership. The Tea Party is currently a hugely energized monster with no head. Literally. The right needs to find a leader that can compete with the zeal and magnetism of Sarah Palin (in the words of Gail Collins, someone who “can suck all the air out of the room”), but who people actually feel comfortable voting for. And they need to do it quickly. Full poll results here.

Politico, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Tea Partiers, Tea Party Movement

MarkStr82Hell

Neither she or Glenn Beck would ever be considered for an elected position. Let’s move on from these senseless articles
roxsteady

As E.J. Dionne pointed out in an article this morning –
“The Tea Party is nothing new. It represents a relatively small minority of Americans on the right end of politics, and it will not determine the outcome of the 2010 elections. This must be the first “populist” movement driven by a television network: Sixty-three percent of the Tea Party folks say they most watch Fox News “for information about politics and current events,” compared with 23 percent of the country as a whole.”
So, at just 18% of the population, they really aren’t politically relevant. And clearly, neither is the hillbilly grifter.
valkyrie101

23% of the country as a whole is more than the percentage of African Americans, so that is a large group of people. And they do matter. Without them, the Republicans are short. If the tea party produces its own presidential candidate as a third party that will split the Republican vote and the dems will win even more seats in Congress.
fanofamerica

I think the Tea Party folks see the value of Palin and Paul being associated with their movement, i.e. their public visibility that gives them a platform to share their common views with others — but since when does admiration for someone have to lead to wanting them to be elected President? I appreciate the Tea Partiers ability to separate the two. If liberals had the ability to do the same (recognize Obama’s ability to grab attention but also recognize he greatly lacks the knowledge/experience to hold the office of president), we’d be in a better place today. Not saying McCain was a great choice, either, despite, his experience. But I like what I see with the Tea Party working to raise up and support better candidates for higher office.
valkyrie101

How about this, Beck is deep under cover and he is really doing a much more committed Colbert? A rodeo clown.
valkyrie101

Here is the problem, fan, libertarians and Christians have issues over the role of religion in society, and its relationship to government. Abortion. Gay rights, etc. So it is one thing to join a party with no platform, coexist with people you secretly do not agree with and who’s rights, even, you wish to restrict, but when the platform is built, you will consider some of the wood rotten and may have second thoughts.
valkyrie101

Beck is a rodeo clown in that he seeks to get the attention of the bull, to lead it away, to clown with the bull. Beck has the bulls attention and is leading it away from where it can do harm. What is the bull? :-)
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

As has been pointed out elsewhere, they polled people that went to one rally in one city, so it really has no meaning beyond the motivated folks who live within driving distance.
pyrope

Sarah Palin is a delightful person; she’s a true patriot, intelligent, womanly, and a good human being. But, she is not “the President.” In our history, we have had many such individuals; some were heroes, some were scholars, and some have made incredibly great contributions to this country, but they were not “the President,” either. Nonetheless, all these great and patriotic individuals made this country greater. Sarah Palin does, too.
valkyrie101

pyrope,
I loved that. Totally on the mark. True and wise.