Posted on 11/24/2010 6:12:30 PM PST by dselig
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, is among the more natural populist politicians of our time, frequently critiquing elites in the press, the Democratic Party, and the Republican establishment. It is one of the reasons along with her working-class background and the sense of authenticity that she can often convey that she is so popular with some voters.
One potential problem for Ms. Palin, however, is that plenty of well-to-do and well-educated voters those whom we might think of as belonging to the elite will be participating in the Republican primaries.
Three recent surveys of Republican primary voters suggest significant divides in support for Ms. Palin based on the educational attainment of the voter. A poll released this morning by Marist College show Ms. Palin as the first choice of 17 percent of Republicans who have not graduated from college, giving her a slight lead among that group. But her support is just 7 percent among Republican college graduates, which placed her fifth behind Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingirch and Chris Christie.
A Quinnipiac poll, likewise, finds Ms. Palin with the support of 22 percent of Republicans who have not graduated from college, but of 10 percent of those who have. A CNN poll, meanwhile using a slightly different criterion that focuses on whether voters attended college, whether or not they graduated from it finds Ms. Palin drawing 20 percent of Republican voters who havent attended college, but only 9 percent of those who have.
The candidate whose numbers move in an opposite direction from Ms. Palin is Mitt Romney. On average over the three surveys, he had the support of 15 percent of no college voters, but 25 percent of Republicans with higher levels of educational attainment.
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Oh my god, I cannot believe that you would buy this $hit!
Well, I’d like to know of any candidate — what did you DO with your degree?
Did you run out and claim to be a moonbat community agitator/organizer? Or did you run a business, a State perhaps, and actually do something productive?
That is the question!
Seems a little early to even have this kind of poll....I haven’t decided...but if it were today, among those on the list....THIS MBA would choose Palin.
Well, I’m not wealthy, but I am college-educated, and I’m a Palin supporter. And...apparently unlike the graphic artists and editors at the New York Times...I can spell “Gingrich”.
If “wealthy” means in the top 7% income distribution, and if “college-educated” means a graduate degree, then I qualify. But I support Palin!
Oh, yeah, and Nate Silver, the writer. Can’t forget him.
Nice work, fellas. It’s not that hard a name to remember.
I guess what you are is not an elitist. As well, not someone who resents another’s possible ascendency to the Presidency withOUT a higher degree; after all it’s darn hard work to get an advanced degree dammit! Palin MUST be stupid if she doesn’t have one, plus she can’t join my academic snob club!! That’s got to be it. You must be a wonderful, humble, person!
Their motto ought to be:
"Carrying the Water for the Communists, and Their Useful Idiots, for 80 Years"
or,
"We Hate America, and the concept of a Constitutional Republic. Let your 'Betters' Lead You ('you unwashed proles')"
Do elites vote in the primaries?
I’ve always been of the impression such elections are beneath them.
Funny, Palin has close to 100% support in my work arena....and the lowest education level there is a MS (that’s master of SCIENCE, not basket weaving)...which probably explains why we like her.
So they’re saying that the less time you spend being “educated” in government funded or subsidized schools the less likely you are to vote for Sarah? I for one am shocked!
Yeah especially the 18 year olds on facebook who thought he was going to give them free stuff.
The “well-educated, wealthy” who DO NOT support Palin....are the ELITISTS who were brainwashed in college, or work in government....(No offense to any here who work in gov’t, but, you know who I mean!)
The very best to you and yours.
Semper Fi
Tommie
You go, Tommie. Probably have more sense than any of us.
How about those with “some college”?
It’s ridiculous how the media props up those with degrees vs. those who don’t have them. Graduating from college does not necessarily correspond with a higher IQ, or ability to decide the future for others than those who do not. When it comes to deciding the future for our progeny, then we ALL have a say, and it is right that we do.
There are many reasons one may not have a degree. And, there are many people without degrees who end up studying more in-depth about a great many subjects, or become better experts than the college graduates in specific fields.
It has been proven that a bunch of classist, elitists are not the group that should be running this country. If the product and teachings of our colleges is witnessed in the current economy, and our current situation with regards to the government respecting our inalienable rights then it may indeed be preferable that one not necessarily GET a degree (unless it is absolutely necessary for one’s career - like surgeons! LOL). These “well-educated” hypocrites need to take a long hard look around them because they seem to have lost touch with reality.
This would all be rather funny if it weren’t so dang important to every citizen’s welfare in this country.
EXCELLENT POINT!
Well, I’m not entirely surprised at these numbers. Palin is often compared to Reagan, but I see her more as Jacksonian (as in “Ol’ Hickory”) in her appeal. That’s bound to turn off some in certain circles, though it’s a quality of hers a lot of us Freepers cherish.
Beyond that, I think the polls reflect a certain skepticism of Palin’s chances, and in that, I see a blueprint for Palin to be successful in both the 2012 GOP primaries and the 2012 general election.
Fairly or not, both Republican primary hopefuls and the Democratic opposition (i.e. Obama and most of the television and print media) are going to make hay out of her brief time in public office and the media-driven perception that she is not knowledgeable on the issues. Sarah 2.0 needs to combine the things we admire so much in her (strength, charm, viewpoints) with a cohesive agenda for governing America.
If she can do that, and do it early on, I think there’s a real chance that many of the skeptics amongst Republicans and conservative-leaning independents will give her a second look.
All just MHO, of course.
The “poll” is a joke if you read the details. NY Times is pushing BS again. It appears the define $50K+ as “wealthy”. Gee, if that’s a month then I don’t fit their BS because I like Palin. And I’ve been to college.
What a bunch of garbage.
Having spent that much time in school you should be able to see that it is in fact not bull. Are you saying that all that time at school you were surrounded by people who like Palin? I've experienced exactly the opposite. The poll seems very accurate to me.
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