Posted on 06/24/2009 8:23:54 AM PDT by GOPGuide
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has seen his favorability ratings improve and now enjoys a positive balance of opinion among the general public: 40% rate him favorably, 28% unfavorably. This marks a reversal of opinion from February 2008, during the latter stages of the GOP primary campaign, when just 30% viewed him favorably and 44% expressed an unfavorable opinion.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 10-14 among 1,502 adults reached on landlines and cell phones, finds that impressions of Sarah Palin have not changed much since the presidential campaign. Palin continues to be a divisive figure among the general public, with about as many saying they have an unfavorable impression (44%) as a favorable view (45%) of the Alaska governor.
Among Republicans, however, the balance of opinion about Palin is more positive than it is regarding Romney or other leading GOP figures, Newt Gingrich and Michael Steele. More than seven-in-ten Republicans (73%) express a favorable opinion of Palin while just 17% have an unfavorable opinion. Romney, Gingrich and especially Steele are less familiar figures among the public overall and Republicans than is Palin. While comparable percentages of Republicans rate Palin and the other Republicans unfavorably, far more view Palin favorably. And Palin continues to be overwhelmingly popular with key parts of the GOP base white evangelical Republicans (84% favorable) and conservative Republicans (80% favorable).
Romneys Image Improves Since February 2008, shortly before he abandoned his race for the GOP presidential nomination, opinion of Romney has improved across most political and demographic groups, but the shift has been particularly pronounced among independents. In February 2008, just 29% of independents had a positive impression of Romney while 46% had a negative view. Today, that balance is reversed: 44% view Romney favorably and 25% unfavorably.
Positive opinions among both Democrats and Republicans have increased by eight points since early 2008. Among Republicans, Romney has made identical nine-point gains in favorability among conservative Republicans and moderate and liberal Republicans; currently, 61% of conservative Republicans and 52% of moderate and liberal members of the GOP express positive opinions of Romney.
Romneys favorable ratings have not changed significantly among white non-Hispanic evangelical Republicans; 54% have a favorable opinion now, compared with 52% in February 2008. Among all other Republicans, by contrast, positive opinions of Romney have increased by 11 points, while negative opinions have fallen considerably (from 31% to 16%).
Sarah Palin Favorability Almost a year after capturing the attention of the political world as John McCains running mate, Sarah Palin remains a broadly popular figure within the Republican Party, despite receiving mixed reviews from the public as a whole.
Palin received her highest overall favorability rating of 50% in mid-September 2008, shortly after McCain named her as his vice-presidential running mate. At that time just 34% expressed an unfavorable opinion of the Alaska governor, while 16% offered no opinion. But her favorability slipped later in the campaign. In mid-October, more people expressed an unfavorable opinion of Palin (48%) than a favorable opinion (42%). Since the election, public views of Palin have shifted only slightly.
Unlike Romney, Palins ratings continue to be much better among conservative Republicans (80%) than among moderates and liberals in the party (62%). And while positive views of Palin have slipped among non-evangelical Republicans (from 77% to 67%), they remain overwhelmingly positive among white evangelical Republicans (84% now, 85% last October).
Notably, as was the case during the election, Palin is rated somewhat better by men than she is by women. About half of men (48%) say their overall opinion of Palin is favorable, while 40% say it is unfavorable. Among women, the picture is reversed: 48% offer an unfavorable view, 41% a favorable one. This difference largely arises from gender differences in party affiliation. For instance, among Republicans, men and women express similar views of Palin (73% favorable).
Palin receives a more favorable rating from those with a high school degree or less (48% favorable, 36% unfavorable) than she does from college graduates (41% favorable, 52% unfavorable). Regionally, she is somewhat better regarded in the South (49% favorable) than she is in the Northeast (39% favorable).
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Romney is a RINO and I will never vote for him. Never.
I believe it is possible by comparing the conservative bonafides and leaving the religious bigotry completely out of it.
"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"
"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"
Poor sport spoiler Romney attacks other GOP candidatesn:
Novak: "Fred Thompson drop-out rumors traced to Romney campaign"
Now be honest. If any politician was that popular with the base of her party. why would she not run?
Hey, any politician would die for those numbers.
Contrary to popular belief Sarah Palin is NOT stupid.
The flipside is, if the economy hasn’t recovered by 2012, Obama will be a marked man. Fair or not, the President gets the blame and the credit for what the economy is doing at the time.
Ditto
Showing the same respect for Gov. Sanford in this lynch-mob thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278245/posts
At this point, Sarah Palin is the Golvernor of a small state outside the mainstream of American politics and life. Like most Governors, she has little, if any, foreign policy experience. That's not fatal if you're running for VP, but the person at the top of the Presidential ticket needs to have answers for any potential questions dealing with foreign policy. When the time comes, if she isn't ready to give thoughtful, educated answers to foreign policy questions, she'll be doomed.
Screw the polls, screw the RINOs, screw the Stalinist media, full speed ahead.
I would agree in most cases, except I think total desperation makes people overlook certain issues.
Obama is a partial example, after the bailout and stock market drop, it made some of the issues surrounding his background less important in many’s eyes.
Beating a sitting President is always an uphill battle. Losing an election casts a shadow over any candidate going forward- if Palin ran against The One in 2012 and lost, she's have an uphill battle to get the nomination agaion.
She's young- there's no real rush for her at this point. Of course, if Obama screws the pooch in the next 4 years, all bets are off.
***Screw the polls***
With that attitude should we support Jim Bunning and Katherine Harris for Senate?
On another thread I referred to the concept that Sarah Palin has to get her ‘ducks in a row’ to orchestrate a successful Presidential campaign and part of that is to bone up or become conversant on various issues. This does not mean that Sarah is stupid or unintelligent.
What it does mean that as Governor of Alaska she has focused on issues related mainly to her state and states rights. Running for POTUS simply means she has to shift her focus to national affairs. Folks, she has 2 years to accomplish this.
To deny this is to deny reality.
I will be the first one to admit that Sarah Palin is not ready to be POTUS on June 24, 2009 but by June 24, 2011 I am convinced that she will be 95% ready to be POTUS and by the time she is inaugurated on Jan. 20/2013 she will be 100% ready.
“It is is easier to study up and get SMARTER than it is to not have a PERSONALITY and to try to get one.”
Roger Simon
You say “until we counter the media we won’t win”. How did Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush do it? Seems like it can be done.
Blah,blah,blah. Fact is that she made the fatal error of allowing herself to be videotaped in an interview ——guess what it was chopped and diced and hashed. Gosh I am shocked she looked bad when the answers were set to different questions.
All you policy wonks who care sooo very much for the academic ought to consider what made Reagan so great. He had core princples and values that would not allow him to do other than certain things. When he faced off with Gorbachev it was aginst most of his advisors “wise’ counsel. Clinton , Carter, both Bushes, and now Obama show us exactly what academic foreign policy advise will do. Leave me with someone who has a gut reaction and I will be much happier.
Ask the folks in Tehran (oops ya can’t if any protestors are still alive) if they like the reasoned moderate sensible approach that the current administration is taking
I don't know if there are any reliable indicators of how big Romney supporters voted for Sarah Palin. Do you?
However I do know that Madison County, Idaho (12.5%) and Utah County, Utah (18.8%) gave Obummer a lower margin of support that any county of more than 10,000 voters in America. These counties are statistically significant, because they are both homes to major Mormon universities and have a very young demographic-- a demographic which went for Obummer by a 2-1 margin nationwide.
Mormons are not the enemy and neither are Romney supporters. They are both among the base which would be essential to drive Obummer from office.
Compared to whom? Obummer? John F. Kerry? Bill Clinton? Even Ronald Reagan at the time he was elected president?
Then there was John F. Kennedy, the freaking foreign policy genius who got us the Bay of Pigs.
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