Less than a week ago most Americans didn’t have a clue who Sarah Palin is, but now 30% of them would rather meet her than Barack Obama or John McCain.

Still, more Americans (43%) would rather meet Obama than the 44-year-old Alaska governor and mother of five who McCain picked as his running mate on Friday, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But even Democrats put Palin second on their list.

Only 17% of voters put McCain at the top of their list, and Senator Joseph Biden, the longtime Delaware senator and two-time presidential hopeful who is Obama’s running mate, was picked by just six percent (6%) (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members.

Before McCain announced Palin’s selection, 67% of voters didn’t know enough about her to have an opinion. A survey taken following her debut in Dayton and subsequent heavy media coverage found 53% now have a favorable opinion of Palin. Biden was viewed favorably by 48% right after Obama announced his vice presidential choice.

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Palin’s selection – and the overall sharpening of McCain’s campaign in recent weeks – clearly is firing up the GOP rank-and-file. While the 73% of Democrats who say they are voting for their candidate with enthusiasm was reflected in the record turnout for the primaries in the spring, it is interesting to note that 57% of Republicans now say they are eager to vote for McCain. Previous surveys have not shown this level of GOP enthusiasm.

Although Democrats continue to attack President Bush and link McCain to him whenever possible, only 19% of Democratic voters say that in the presidential contest they are voting primarily against the Republican candidate. By contrast, 37% of GOP voters say they are voting against Obama.

Fifty percent (50%) of unaffiliated voters say they are voting with enthusiasm for their candidate versus 32% who say they are voting primarily against the other candidate.

Obama is the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party, and 92% of black voters are planning to vote enthusiastically for their candidate this year. Only 58% of whites characterize themselves as enthusiastic voters for their candidate, while 32% say their vote in November will be primarily against the other candidate.

Nationally the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll after weeks of the two candidates running neck-and-neck has shown Obama with a modest bounce from the Democratic National Convention. On Monday, for the first time ever, a majority of Republican voters say they have a Very Favorable opinion of John McCain. Previously, most GOP voters were less enthusiastic.

Nearly seven out of 10 voters (68%) now rate the presidential election as exciting, versus 25% who think it’s boring.

Despite Palin’s status as only the second women ever to be on the ticket of a major political party in this country, women voters still overwhelmingly like Obama over his Republican opponents. Forty-seven percent (47%) of women voters list the Democratic presidential nominee as the one of the four top candidates they would most like to meet. Palin is second for women, with 29%. Sixteen percent (16%) put McCain first, with six percent (6%) listing Biden.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of men put Obama first, with Palin much closer as the first choice of 31%. McCain and Biden trail again with 18% and six percent (6%) respectively.

Highlighting the new object of their enthusiasm, 51% of Republicans say Palin is the candidate they most want to meet, while 32% list McCain first. Only nine percent (9%) of GOP voters say the same for Obama. Among Democrats, 69% put Obama first, but Palin comes in second with them, too, although just 14% put her at the top of their list, followed by Biden with nine percent (9%) and McCain with six percent (6%). For unaffiliated voters, Obama is the first choice of 46%, with Palin next at 29%.

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