VP Survey: Biden Pulls More Voters To Ticket Than Palin; More Men Think Palin Is Experienced

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The first poll of vice presidential candidates after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's rousing nomination speech has found that less than half of voters think the first woman Republican vice presidential nominee is experienced enough, and that more people think political bias, not sexism, is the cause of the media's reportedly unfair treatment of Palin.

A new ABC survey says 25 percent of voters say they are more likely to vote for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) because Palin is his running mate, while 19 percent said otherwise. Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) seems to have more pull with voters; 22 percent said they are more likely to support Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) with the six-term senator in the ticket, while 10 percent said they were unlikely to do so.

Favorability ratings for either vice presidential candidates are statistically even, with 50 percent saying they see Palin in a favorable light and 54 percent saying the same for Biden.

Forty-two percent of voters think Palin has the right experience to be commander-in-chief, 50 percent believe she doesn't. A gender gap exist on this issue. Men are more apt than women to think the first-term governor is ready to be president; 46-39 percent.

Sixty-six percent of voters are assured that Biden, who faces different problems such as being prone to gaffes and the plagiarism controversy during his first bid for the White House in 1988, has enough experience to lead as president. Only 21 percent think otherwise.

Biden currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations panel and was former chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. Apart from his foreign policy expertise, his working-class roots are expected to help Obama gain support among blue-collar voters, a constituency the freshman Illinois senator has had difficulty wooing.

Known for being loquacious and forthright. Biden bowed out of the presidential race two decades ago after he came under fire for reportedly plagiarizing a speech by then-British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. He withdrew from his second White House bid in January after failing to win in the Iowa caucuses.f

Palin, on the other hand, has been under intense scrutiny since announcing that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant and plans to keep the baby. Her announcement came just days after being named McCain's running mate, and was followed by a wave of reports about her past that campaign officials have attributed to "sexism" and a "smear campaign."

As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbying firm that was partly run by a former chief of staff for Stevens in order to secure nearly $27 million in federal earmarks, the Washington Post said. The same firm lobbied for Abramoff on "exploration for oil and gas" and "legislation relating to gaming issues," according to Talking Points Memo. The Post previously reported that Palin served as a director for a 527 group organized by Stevens. The first-term governor, who ran on a change platform in 2006, had also been part of a political party that called for a referendum to be held for Alaska to become an independent state, ABC said.

Despite the reports, Palin enjoys an 80 percent approval rating in her home state. Voters nationwide are also almost equally divided on whether Palin has been treated unfairly by the media. Fifty percent say she has not, while 40 percent say coverage of her has not been balanced. More of those who believe the media has been unfair think political bias is to blame and not sexism.

The ABC poll was conducted on Sept. 4 among 505 adults. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.