Tea Party, Sarah Palin and Polls

By: Sarah Dutton
Topics: Republicans

Heading into the Tea Party movement's Nashville, Tenn., convention this weekend, most Americans don't have an opinion yet about the movement.

Eighteen percent have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement -- rising to 35 percent among conservatives – and 12 percent are unfavorable, but fully 69 percent are undecided.

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be a keynote speaker at the convention. While she is not popular among Americans overall, this event's attendees should include Palin's most ardent supporters.

(CBS)

For many months, more Americans have told CBS News Polls that they have an unfavorable opinion than a favorable view of Palin. In a CBS News Poll conducted in mid-January, 41 percent of the public said their view of her was unfavorable, and 26 percent were favorable. Thirty-two percent hadn't heard enough about her or were undecided. Among Americans overall, opinions of Palin have been net-negative since the fall of 2008.

But she enjoys much wider appeal among conservatives – 46 percent of them had a favorable view of her in mid-January, nearly double the percentage of the public overall. Just 26 percent were unfavorable. Twenty-seven percent were undecided or haven't heard enough.

She has appealed to conservatives since she first became a national political figure: in early September 2008, as many as 70 percent of conservative registered voters had a favorable impression of her. According to CBS News exit polls, 78 percent of conservatives supported the McCain-Palin ticket in the 2008 general election.

(AP)

And Palin is especially popular among those who have a positive opinion of the Tea Party movement. Fully 73 percent of them have a favorable view of her, and just 10 percent are unfavorable. Fifteen percent are undecided or haven't heard.

But even this group of Americans -- sympathetic to the Tea Party movement – has doubts about her future in politics. Forty-three percent say they would like to see Palin run for president in 2012, but even more, 46 percent, would not.

Tom Tancredo Tea Party Speech Slams "Cult of Multiculturalism"
Tom Tancredo Laments Obama's "Socialist Government"
What's the Future of the Tea Party?
National Tea Party Convention Kicks Off
Katie Couric Interviews Tea Party Leaders Kellen Guida and Michael Johns

Sarah Dutton is the CBS News director of surveys. Poll Positions is weekly Hotsheet feature on polling trends from the CBS News Survey and Polling Unit. Click here for more posts from the series.