Tea Party, Sarah Palin and Polls

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)

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)

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.


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