Republicans like a politician who stands up for what he believes --
even if he believes the Republican Party is populated by a bunch of
"knuckle-dragging Neanderthals."

The candidate leading the Florida GOP primary to determine who will
take on Rep. Alan Grayson, the Democrat who represents the
Orlando-based district, is none other than Grayson himself, according
to a poll paid for by his campaign. Grayson is a freshman congressman
who has drawn scorn from the GOP and has quickly built a nationwide
following of progressives.

The poll has Grayson leading the 13 Republicans -- among Republicans
-- with 27.8 percent of the vote. The congressman who mocked the GOP
health care plan by saying that it amounts to telling people not to
get sick and if they do, to die quickly, received more support than
all of the Republican candidates combined.

No GOP candidate scored above 3.7 percent; 57.7 percent said they were
undecided. Grayson did particularly well with women, undercutting the
notion that referring to a Washington lobbyist as a "K Street whore"
would turn female voters away. (Grayson later apologized for the word
choice.)

The poll was conducted on Feb. 26th. There were 324 respondents, all
registered Republicans in Florida's eighth district. The poll was
conducted by Middleton Market Research.

Naturally, the national GOP establishment dismissed the results --
"This is the most bogus thing I've ever seen in my life," said Andy
Seré, Regional Press Secretary for the National Republican
Congressional Committee.

Grayson told HuffPost that some of the support comes from Republicans
who appreciate that he speaks his mind, while some is due to his
far-superior name recognition. But the poll also found at least one
area where Republican voters thought favorably of him.