Sarah Palin, queen of the Birthers

A new poll of the Birthers shows the former governor as their preferred candidate

Published August 21, 2009 6:05PM (EDT)

In this Sunday, July 26, 2009, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives her resignation speech in Fairbanks, Alaska during a swearing in ceremony where she turned over gubernatorial power to Lt. Sean Parnell. It's been five whole days since Palin stepped down as Alaska's governor and her Internet fans are dying to know what's next.
In this Sunday, July 26, 2009, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives her resignation speech in Fairbanks, Alaska during a swearing in ceremony where she turned over gubernatorial power to Lt. Sean Parnell. It's been five whole days since Palin stepped down as Alaska's governor and her Internet fans are dying to know what's next.

Public Policy Polling, a liberal pollster, had an interesting idea recently: The firm broke down a national presidential survey it did, separating out the Birthers among the respondents in order to see who their preferred candidate was. The result, if you've been following the Birthers' rhetoric for a while, wasn't too surprising: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was the most popular politician of the four that PPP asked about.

Palin clocked in with a 66 percent favorability rating among the Birthers; Mike Huckabee was second with 58 percent, while Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney brought up the rear with 46 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

PPP's Tom Jensen offers another way to look at the company's numbers, one that ends up pretty startling:

63% of all Americans with a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin are birthers. Same thing with 53% of those who like Gingrich, 50% who view Huckabee positively, and 44% for Romney.

Remember when W. said 'some people call you the elites, I call you my base?' Swap out birthers for elites and you've got the makings of a great Palin speech.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

MORE FROM Alex Koppelman


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Birthers Sarah Palin War Room