Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck Top Tea-Party Picks

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

Sarah Palin might have been the pick of those attending the weekend Tea Party Convention in Nashville, but a new Washington Whispers poll puts Fox's Glenn Beck on top of those Americans would like to see as the movement's leader. But Beck edges Palin out by just a hair, 15 percent to 14 percent.

Shocking to political insiders, however, is the vast majority who haven't tuned in to the movement that had an impact in three tide-changing elections. Some 58 percent told our Synovate-eNation pollsters that they haven't heard of the movement.

Behind Beck and Palin were movement leader Dick Armey of FreedomWorks, at 5 percent, conservative South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, and Ford President Alan Mulally, cheered by conservatives for refusing to take a federal bailout.

The Whispers Poll

With the tea-party movement taking root in political races around the country, many are looking for somebody to lead it. Whom among these would you choose?

• Fox's Glenn Beck                        15%
• Sarah Palin                                  14%
• FreedomWorks' Dick Armey     5%
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)          4%
• Ford President Alan Mulally      4%
• What movement?                       58%

Source: The Synovate eNation Internet poll was conducted January 29–February 2 among 1,000 nationally representative households by global market research firm Synovate.

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