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Poll: Palin Winning The Birther Primary, Romney Way Behind
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
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A new analysis by Public Policy Polling (D) finds that Sarah Palin is especially popular with a key Republican demographic: The Birthers.
Among those respondents in PPP's latest national poll who either said that President Obama was not born in the United States or were undecided, Palin had a 66% favorability rating. Of the other three Republicans that were tested in the poll, Mike Huckabee was in second place at 58%, then Newt Gingrich with 46%, and Mitt Romney was last with only 43% favorability.
From PPP communications director Tom Jensen: "I mean this with all sincerity -- Romney's lack of popularity with the birther wing of the GOP really could scuttle his chances at the nomination in three years."
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Stroszek
August 21, 2009 11:22 AM
This isn't really surprising. Birthers are heavily concentrated in the south and there's a lot of anti-Mormon bigotry down here.
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LFC
August 21, 2009 3:27 PM in reply to Stroszek
There's also lots of pro-moron bigotry down there.
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alvnjms
August 24, 2009 3:48 AM in reply to LFC
It's not everyone that can ascribe bigotry to people based on where they live with a straight face. Nice work, dummy.
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sbv
August 21, 2009 11:28 AM
and 5% of those polled were unsure if hawaii was a state. thomas jefferson said "it is essential for our democracy to survive, to have an educated citizenry." the machiavellian gop has spent 20 years, now enabled by the msm, dumbing down the electorate and this is there success.
"you can fool all the people sometime, some of the people all the time, but you can fool all the people all the time." so bring it on! let them embrace the birther, deather, distrust your government and "i want my country back" crowd, and we will see them at the polls.
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Michael A
August 21, 2009 11:54 AM in reply to sbv
Actually it started with the b-movie actor's war on education 29 years ago. They have tried to cut off all funding for the dept of education and then they use the bs every child left behind to do the same thing. It's been a war to keep the population uneducated so they vote republican.
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AndiAngel
August 21, 2009 12:17 PM in reply to Michael A
And to keep a fresh supply of cannon fodder for their empire.
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Problem Is
August 21, 2009 1:50 PM in reply to Michael A
Yeah but give the Alzheimer's puppet, B movie actor credit:
He could read a script way better than the all male Connecticut Prep School Cheerleader... I have pictures of that one...
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Stiggs
August 21, 2009 12:35 PM in reply to sbv
I wish there was a better word to describe these people than Machiavellian. I don't have a problem with ascribing the term to the GOP puppet masters and some of the smarter operatives. But I feel like ascribing the term to a lot of these jokers gives them too much credit.
Which isn't to say what they are doing doesn't strictly qualify as Machiavellian but I feel like it implies that the person has an awareness and understanding of that particular brand of political philosophy. I think that Machiavellian should be reserved for those who have read Machiavelli and possessed mental faculties to understand it. And there should be a different term for the accidental Machiavellian types.
Idiot princes?
(In the interest of full disclosure, I wouldn't meet my own criteria to qualify as Machiavellian)
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peetrepeet
August 21, 2009 1:17 PM in reply to Stiggs
How bout "stuped wite peeple"?
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hollywood
August 21, 2009 1:55 PM in reply to peetrepeet
Yes that's it exactly! dumb southern rednecks are most of the problem with this country getting itself back on track. They have no common sense at all. If we followed the stupid southern white people we would all quickly go completely to hell.
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Stiggs
August 21, 2009 7:15 PM in reply to peetrepeet
Michael Steele. It may be that he is the exception that makes the rule, but I don't feel comfortable referring to him as a "stupid white person". It's just weird on too many levels.
Although, he could be disqualified from consideration simply for being so inept. I don't really understand how he came to power, but he seems to totally lack any sort of support or following which may be necessary for a Machiavellian-light designation.
I guess Steele is really just a political klutz.
In general though, I think we need a specific term for someone who behaves in a Machiavellian fashion but knows not what they do.
Mocky-a-Palin? (I think I like "idiot prince" better.)
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Problem Is
August 21, 2009 1:52 PM in reply to Stiggs
In a fixed market oligarchy crony capitalist system...
They are the "Fools who Fail Upwards."
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miraclelurker
August 21, 2009 2:16 PM in reply to sbv
my favorite town hall meeting protest sign ..... Youth in Asia will kill grandma.
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MAX TARDCORE
August 23, 2009 1:36 PM in reply to miraclelurker
MEGADETH ROCKS.
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ricky
August 21, 2009 11:44 AM
Palin is riding high now. Wait till she has to take a firm stand and declare what continent in Africa she thinks he was born in.
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barkleyg
August 21, 2009 11:46 AM
Well, you know what they say:
BIRTHERS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER !
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cletus
August 21, 2009 11:57 AM
I haven't been here in a while. What's with the new comment format? the old one was just fine.
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Stiggs
August 21, 2009 7:17 PM in reply to cletus
I'm with you on this one. The new format is kind of awkward. Even stranger though is that some stories have old style comments and others have new style. So we can't forget how much we liked it the other way.
A purgatory of sorts, I guess.
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runfastandwin
August 21, 2009 12:01 PM
Palin/Theplumber 2012!
You know it's coming...
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indianadave
August 21, 2009 12:02 PM
We could look at Palin as a real good reason for Democrats to vote in the future.
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ricky
August 21, 2009 12:07 PM in reply to indianadave
As opposed to our party leaders performance thus far on health care reform?
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mjclare
August 21, 2009 12:13 PM
This is GREAT... Hoisted by their own petards.
If the 'reasonable' republicans buy into the wing nut created alternate reality that they have used to motivate their base, they alienate the swing voters that they need to win just about any election. If they ignore the wingnutters and stick to the high ground they never make it through the nomination process.
So, FOX News... was a couple of points of short term gain on the nielson charts worth it if it means rendering your party impotent?
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Texas Aggie
August 21, 2009 12:22 PM in reply to mjclare
Your assumption seems to be that FOX cares about the republican party. I would submit that all they really care about is their bottom line and that if the gop went down the tubes, they would manufacture something else. Their "viewership" is primarily the nutcases which will be with us always, even unto the end of days, so they don't really need the gop. All they need is some way to get the nutcases frothing at the mouth.
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xargaw
August 21, 2009 12:19 PM
Palin may be popular among these largely uneducated racist knuckle draggers, but it appears that the media has moved on and this isn't much of story anymore. It has, for the most part, fallen out of the news cycle. The media does not have much of an attention span. They propelled this long after it had been completely debunked, but even they realize when the public looses interest.
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ricky
August 21, 2009 12:46 PM in reply to xargaw
Yes. Move on. Nothing more than a bridge to nowhere.
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thomas1
August 21, 2009 1:03 PM in reply to ricky
she is 'the bridge to nowhere'
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CareyInLA
August 21, 2009 12:19 PM
"So, FOX News... was a couple of points of short term gain on the nielson charts worth it if it means rendering your party impotent?"
Come on, mjclare, you know the answer to this one. Of course it is. It's all about the ratings! Faux News business is serving hot and cold running right-wing crazy. If it destroys the former GOP, well, you can't make an omlette without cracking eggs.
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labman57
August 21, 2009 12:54 PM
Not surprising, since this is the same subset of the public that still believes that the earth is only 6000 years old.
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KilgoreTrout XL
August 21, 2009 1:01 PM
Has Romney been asked his position on this muzlin-kenyan-ORLY-taitz thing yet? I haven't heard him talk about it.
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Minne sconsin
August 21, 2009 1:24 PM
What we're seeing is a dissolution of the GOP Coalition.
The oligarchs/Club for Growth crowds are behind Romney. They don't like change or uncertainty because it's bad for business. And Palin and Huckabee represent change & uncertainty.
The fundies/apocalyptos will line up behind Huckabee. While there's some overlap with group 3 below (the knuckledraggers), many are pretty frightened by the "show me your guns" stunts the teabaggers are pulling. The oligarchs are scared of Huckabee because he and some of his riffraff truly believe some of that Jesus social justice stuff.
And Palin has the racist knuckledraggers, the "Real Americans". The stupid white people who are frightened because being white isn't enough to keep you privileged & out of poverty, who don't understand that government health care might actually be a step up for them. The ones bringing guns to town halls.
Pass the popcorn.
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Problem Is
August 21, 2009 2:01 PM in reply to Minne sconsin
You pretty much nailed it...
Wall Street beats the knuckle draggers over the head (along with the rest of us)... the knuckle draggers blame "them damn socialist big government Democrats" and want to shoot them... then Wall Street hits the knuckle draggers... well you get the point.
It is like watching a 3 stooges short... I don't have the popcorn, fat Larry does...
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pmb50
August 21, 2009 2:29 PM
Of course Palin is popular with stupid people and morons because it takes one to know one. Low information voters in her base just like Palin
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Matt Jones
August 21, 2009 3:11 PM
Stupid birthers are stupid, and want to vote for stupid. Film at 11!
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Unreadable Nixters
August 21, 2009 4:00 PM
Well, these are the same people who discuss if liberals can actually be fit parents (http://btruth.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=84&view=previous ). Wow, who would have thought.
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HawkeyeD
August 21, 2009 4:50 PM
Wait 'til they figure out she was born in Canada, oh, and that Canada isn't part of the United States....
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Nancy Irving
August 21, 2009 7:50 PM
Poor Mitt. In a Republican primary, sanity is an even bigger disadvantage than Mormonism.
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RobertK
August 21, 2009 10:37 PM
As I've posted elsewhere on this site, I think this is proof that, at the very least, we need mental health care reform badly in this country.
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JEP07
August 22, 2009 1:06 PM
Rank and file Republicans should prepare for the Palin/Birther 'Dead Moose" movement to splinter their party in the early years of 21st Century the way Roosevelt's "Bull Moose party" did in the last century.
This time they may not be able to reconstitute as a viable political party. The wingnuts that rebel within their ranks are just too nutty.
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Leftflank
August 22, 2009 9:40 PM
Newt Gingrich? I don't think Newt even knows what he stands for, TODAY! Calling this crap political discussion is a waste of our time & pretty much shows where the right is coming from.
Helicopter hunters polled also approve of Sarah the quitter but that too is meaningless.
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MAX TARDCORE
August 23, 2009 1:41 PM
It strikes me as disingenuous that a woman who considers her own son's parentage politcally off-limits is making hay on the President's birthplace -- & if you ask some, his mother, as well -- not being as it is reported.
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