CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL

For release: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

6:30 pm (EDT)

SARAH PALIN AND HER ENDORSEMENTS

September 10-14, 2010

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin continues to receive unfavorable ratings from the
American public overall, and few voters say her endorsement of a political candidate would
make them more likely to vote for him or her. Still, the former Vice Presidential nominee is
popular among Republicans, conservatives and those who support the Tea Party movement.

Americans were asked which public person best represents the Republican Party today. 62%,
including half of Republicans, could not name someone. But among those who did name
someone, Sarah Palin was the top mention with 6%, followed by John McCain (5%) and Newt
Gingrich (4%).

As for the top Republican leaders in Congress, just 3% volunteered House Minority Leader John
Boehner, and only 1% of Americans mentioned Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Who Best Represents the Republican Party?

Total Republicans
Sarah Palin 6% 6%
John McCain 5 3
Newt Gingrich 4 8
John Boehner 3 1
Mitch McConnell 1 1
Don’t know 62 51

21% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, while twice as many - 46% - view
her unfavorably. About a third of the public is undecided or hasn’t heard enough to offer an
opinion. Her unfavorable rating has risen six points from last month.

Views of Sarah Palin

Now 8/2010 4/2010 3/2010 7/2009
Favorable 21% 23% 30% 24% 23%
Unfavorable 46 40 45 38 37
Undecided/
Haven’t heard enough 32 35 24 37 39

Republicans (50%), conservatives (38%) and Tea Partiers (56%) hold net positive opinions of
her. 68% of Democrats view her negatively, and she has a net negative view among
independents (45% unfavorable to 16% favorable.)
Nearly half of all Americans say the endorsement by Sarah Palin of a candidate running in their
state would not make a difference in their vote, while 37% would be less likely to vote for the
candidate and just 12% would be more likely. Most Tea Party supporters and Republicans
would also not be swayed by a Palin endorsement, but she has a far more positive impact on
these two groups among those for whom her endorsement would matter. Tea Party supporters
and Republicans who would take her endorsement into consideration would be more likely to
vote for such a candidate by a margin of six to one.

Sarah Palin’s Endorsement of Candidate

(among registered voters)
All Tea Party Reps
More likely to vote for candidate 12% 36% 33%
Less likely to vote for candidate 37 6 5
No difference 48 57 61

When asked to choose, two in three Americans think Sarah Palin is mostly interested in staying
in the public eye rather than electing conservative candidates, but Republicans and Tea Party
backers are more divided. Among conservatives, 29% think she’s more concerned with electing
conservative candidates; 53% think she mostly wants to say in the public eye.

Is Sarah Palin Mostly Interested in …?

All Tea Party Reps Conservatives
Electing conservative candidates 18% 49% 43% 29%
Staying in the public eye 67 43 42 53

_________________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 990 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone
September 10-14, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard
land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus
or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
CBS NEWS/NEW YORK TIMES POLL
Sarah Palin and her Endorsements
September 10-14, 2010

q46 Think about the Republican Party. Which public person TODAY, either in politics or
some other field, do you think best represents what the Republican Party stands for right
now?

**** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ****

**** Party ID ****
Total Rep Dem Ind
% % % %
Sarah Palin 6 6 5 6
John McCain 5 3 7 5
Newt Gingrich 4 8 2 3
John Boehner 3 1 5 3
Glenn Beck 2 2 1 2
Mitt Romney 2 2 1 2
George W. Bush 2 2 2 1
Rush Limbaugh 2 0 2 2
Mike Huckabee 1 3 1 1
Mitch McConnell 1 1 1 1
No one 1 1 1 1
Other 9 20 10 5
DK/NA 62 51 62 68

q85 Is your opinion of Sarah Palin favorable, not favorable, undecided, or haven't you
heard enough about Sarah Palin yet to have an opinion?

Aug10b
%
Favorable 21 50 5 16 23
Not favorable 46 18 68 45 40
Undecided 18 20 13 20 20
Haven't heard enough 14 11 13 16 15
Refused 2 0 2 3 2

q86 If Sarah Palin were to endorse a candidate in your state, would that make you more
likely to support that candidate, less likely, or doesn't it make a difference to you?

**** REGISTERED VOTERS ****

More likely 12 33 2 5
Less likely 37 5 66 33
No difference 48 61 28 58
DK/NA 3 1 4 4

q87 Do you think Sarah Palin is mostly interested in helping conservative candidates get
elected or mostly interested in staying in the public eye?

**** TOTAL RESPONDENTS ****

Elect conservative candidates 18 43 6 14
Stay in public eye 67 42 80 72
Both (vol.) 3 4 2 4
Neither (vol.) 1 1 2 0
DK/NA 10 10 11 10
 UNWEIGHTED WEIGHTED
Total Respondents 990
Total registered voters 881 777

Total Republicans 261 248 (25%)

Total Democrats 346 345 (35%)
Total Independents 383 397 (33%)

Registered Republicans 247 224 (29%)

Registered Democrats 316 276 (36%)
Registered Independents 318 277 (35%)