Republicans Want GOP to Be Like Palin: Poll Tuesday, February 3, 2009 10:40 AM
By: Jim Meyers
A majority of Republican voters think Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the best future model for the party, a new Rasmussen poll reveals.
While 55 percent of Republicans polled say the GOP should become more like Palin, only 24 percent believe John McCain is the best future model for the party, 11 percent say former President George W. Bush is the best model, and the remainder are not sure.
The poll also disclosed that 43 percent of Republican voters believe their party has been too moderate over the past eight years, 17 percent think the GOP has been too conservative, and 30 percent say its actions and positions have been about right, with the remainder not sure.
Nearly two-third of Democrats, on the other hand, believe the Republican Party has been too conservative, 42 percent said it should look to McCain for the future, and only 12 percent see Palin as the role model for the future, according to Rasmussen.
Among voters not affiliated with either party, 39 percent say the GOP has been too conservative over the past eight years, 34 percent think it’s been too moderate, and 14 percent believe the party’s actions and positions have been about right.
Overall, 52 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of Palin, and 26 percent have very unfavorable opinion.
Some polls and pundits also see Gov. Palin out front for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Discussing the 2012 G.O.P. race at breakfast meeting on Monday, former Speaker Newt Gingrich called the Alaska governor "very formidable" and noted that she'd have "a substantial advantage in Iowa," The New York Observer reports.
For a recent Gallup Poll, respondents were asked who, out of 10 candidates, they would like to see run for president in 2012.
Running first was the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, with 67 percent wanting her to run.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/GOP_poll_palin/2009/02/03/177925.html
