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What do you think of the poll that has Charlie Sheen leading Palin 41/36 among Independents?

I think it shows pollsters get awfully bored when elections are a long way off. Serious polls do not mean a whole heck of a lot this far out from an election. This one even less so. But here are a few points to ponder.

First, while Public Policy Polling is an independent outfit, it does regular polling for DailyKos. Their job is to come up with numbers the Kos-by kids want to see, which means bad numbers for palin. Note the poll touts palin loses 41/36 to Charlie Sheen among independents, but does not tout as loudly she defeats Sheen 49/29 overall.

Sheen gets less votes when he goes up against barack Obama, losing 57/24. There is some clear palin Derangement syndrome going on there. Regardless, each party supports Sheen over the other party's nominee.

Second, in any poll, 15-20% of respondents are going to choose the strange answer. The same number of people would say they believe in ghosts, Atlantis, or that Obama is a pod person from Neptune. About the same percentage vote by name recognition. Anyone with the Kennedy name, whether a member of the famous family or not, will get votes because of the perceived familiarity.

Finally, Alvin Greene, the fruit loop soon to be convicted sex offender, won the democrat primary for Senate in South Carolina against an organized opponent because fans of the Rev. Al Green saw his name and figured it was him. People do stupid things when famous people are involved. Or they just want to be cute. I will bet Kermit the Frog beats Palin straight up in a poll just because respondents would like to say they support him.

None of this is to say Palin is a strong candidate, the likely GOP nominee, or the next president. It just means this poll is silly and meaningless. Oh, and people are often stupid.