Posted on 03/22/2011 5:08:01 AM PDT by FreeManDC
Sarah Palin’s standing with the American public has undergone a stunning reversal of fortune, according to two recently released polls. Just two and a half years ago, Sarah Palin’s star was ascending to the political heavens. A solid 53% of Americans held a favorable opinion of Mrs. Palin, while only 28% had a negative view. But according to a March 3 Bloomberg News poll, only 28% of Americans now hold a positive view of the former Alaska governor, while a stunning 60% see her in an unfavorable light. And a March 16 Washington Post-ABC poll found Palin’s negative ratings fell to a nadir of 37% among Republicans and right-leaning independents. How do we explain this stunning reversal for the immensely ambitious political wunderkind? Following John McCain’s surprise selection of Palin on August 29, 2008, and her well-received acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, she notched an impressive favorability rating of 53% as a virtual political unknown (all figures I cite are from the Gallup poll, unless otherwise noted). But as the campaign jolted toward the November election, stories began to circulate about a simmering discord between the McCain and Palin campaign staffs. “She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” complained a top McCain adviser just days before the election. “Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.” Following the GOP’s sweeping losses on November 4, Palin’s favorability ratings still registered 48% — a respectable number, considering the predictable miscues of the grueling campaign. Soon shaking off the post-election blues, Palin’s first move was to establish SarahPAC, which would eventually raise $1 million for conservative candidates around the country. Throughout 2009, Palin’s favorability ratings cruised along in the acceptable low to mid 40s range. Palin’s heralded book Going Rogue came out on November 17. Even though the autobiography would eventually sell over 2 million copies, it also raised questions about the former candidate’s conservative credentials — even her character. Going Rogue highlights Palin’s endorsement of the controversial Title IX quota program. It reveals her predilection for gender-baiting clichés like “I’ve been living in a man’s world all my life.” The autobiography even suggests a mean streak. When then-boyfriend Todd told his friends that Sarah didn’t know how to kiss, Palin’s judgment was as harsh as it was swift: she “learned a lesson about guys that day: even the good ones can act like jerks.” As if women never gossip about their mates’ sexual prowess! Throughout the year Palin appeared at endless Tea Party rallies around the country. On February 6, 2010, Palin keynoted the inaugural Tea Party convention in Nashville, TN, cementing her position as the charismatic leader for the burgeoning movement. But in mid-2010, the apparently unstoppable train suddenly took a pro-feminist turn. During a May 15 speech at a Susan B. Anthony conference, Palin unveiled the term “Mama Grizzly,” and invoked the words “feminism” and “feminist” no less than a dozen times. This provoked predictable attacks from the NOW blowhards — and raised conservative eyebrows as well. Palin’s response was to accuse her critics, including her female detractors, of chauvinism — a stance that began to wear thin in the eyes of many. The cracks in Mrs. Palin’s formidable reputation began to show themselves in the Gallup poll taken after the November 2 elections. While she garnered a steady 40% favorability rating, for the first time ever her unfavorable numbers spiked to 52%. Perhaps the decisive turning point, though, was the day that Palin decided to take on Barbara Bush. First ladies occupy a revered spot in the American iconography, but apparently Palin was too tone-deaf to understand this. When the former first lady remarked that Palin might prefer to stay in Alaska rather than throw herself in the hurly-burly of national politics, Palin rebuked Mrs. Bush — and her family — as a group of elite “blue bloods.” Wrong move, Mrs. Palin. Then came her “blood libel” gaffe on January 12. And just last month, Palin insinuated former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was “Neanderthal.” Manhattan Institute scholar Heather Mac Donald has ridiculed the “feminist strain” of the Mama Grizzlies and notes that Palin “is living up to the most skeptical assessment of her.” But the real reason for her plummeting support is that many Americans are confused about who Sarah Palin is and what she really stands for. Is Mrs. Palin the tireless spokesperson for a recrudescent silent majority? Is she a have-it-all, do-it-all Super Mom? A dazzling, but ephemeral Media Maven? Or is she an old-school, quota-embracing, male-bashing feminist who also happens to be pro-life? Is she a shake-and-bake liberal whose political resumé includes support for the ill-fated bridge to nowhere and a record-breaking $6.6 billion state operating budget in 2007? Until Mrs. Palin takes steps to reconcile these apparent contradictions, these questions will continue to be grist for the political mill.
Those of us who are not Palinistas always get asked that.
Right now, Palin isn't running.
The only ones who really seem to be "officially" running are Cain, Pawlenty, and Barbour, and I could vote for any of those.
My dream ticket would be DeMint/Jindal but that is of course just a dream.
I could vote for anyone over Obama except Huckabee, Romney, or (god forbid) Trump. In those cases I go third party.
and why she would not make a great POTUS.....
She might at that. She would certainly be better than Obama or Dubya.
But in order to win, she is going to have to say some things to win over independent voters, and I'm not sure her partisans here on FR will be able to handle that without cranial explosions.
Her Long island interview shows she can win over a room full of independents as well as her India trip. Her 90% approval in AK also is a good indication she can win over not just independents but conservative dems.
But my question is why is everyone wanting her to run a general campaign before the primaries? In a primary election you do not try to "win over" the independents. You try to win over the base. Only AFTER you secure the nomination do you need to worry about independents.
““She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” complained a top McCain adviser just days before the election. “Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.””
The fact that she “takes no advice from anyone” is exactly WHY she is destined to become the “next leader of the party”.
Most of the “advice” that seems to be given of late to “Republican leaders” is pretty much crapola anyway.
Just ask Mr. Romney about that. I’m sure he has loads of “advisors”....
No fooling. From the title, it sounded like an interesting read.
But, when I see that the poster doesn't care enough to even use a simple paragraph tag (<p>) to break up a huge body of text, then I think to myself, why bother?
It is obvious that most PDSers here are fake conservatives. They are plants. They will NEVER state a candidate they support because they aren't conservatives but are on this site to disrupt the support of Sarah.
More likely she takes all kinds of advice she simply does not allow others to make DECISIONS for her.
Sometimes advisors get the two confuse. Taking advice means being open to their words, experience and history not following their orders or doing exactly what say to do. That would be a follower not a leader.
The apple never falls far from the tree.
That is an insult to any Liberty loving Freeper. You are either a fake conservative, a RINO or someone just jealous of Sarah.
You are like most PDSers - pathetic fools who are better suited over at the DUmp.
What the ignorant PDSers can't see or understand is what you all believe is "cultist" is simply enthusiasm for a true fiscal, Liberty loving, small government Conservative who fights like Hell against the evil left.
If for some reason Sarah came out with positions that put her in RINOland then many of us would end our support of her -- we are NOT cultist.
She is the "real" deal and when she announces she will come out the gate on total offense against the RINOs and crush them.
Even after she wins the GOP Nomination, most of the PDSers will still rant against her -- it will be joy to see their angst. At that point, we will know the are truly "fake" conservatives.
What is fiscally conservative about keeping $12 billion in the state and out of the hands of the citizens?
What is fiscally conservative about keeping $12 billion in the state and out of the hands of the citizens?
Gee, that’s right, just attack and name call some one who disagrees with you, where have we seen that before... Oh yeah, on DU...
You my friend are out of your mind, I’m the furthest thing from a rino, you could say I’m more libertarian, and I wouldn’t argue, hell Constitutionalist is a title carry quite proudly, but rino, I think not.
The time has come to question the conventional wisdom which asks the question: “Is a candidate electable?”.
The truth is my dog could beat 0bama.
The question becomes: “Who has the guts to turn around this socialist Rat/Soros agenda?”
On that score Palin looks to be a top contender.
My bad, I thought you meant Ron Paul.
I like Rand Paul but would like to see more out of him before I form a solid opinion.
Regardless, he is not going to garner national support.
It will be Palin or Romney and the Establishment and Romney are begging for more conservatives to jump in to divide conservatives and once again give us the RINO pick.
Governments without surplus will raise taxes/fees or go into debt then raise taxes to cover that debt during times of emergency or when a needed project comes up.
As far as giving the money back you must have missed the fact that Gov Palin gave a good chunk of the money back after the rainy day funds where fully funded.....
They know the results of the poll before it`s taken.They pretty much say...hey I am going to need a negative poll on Sarah Palin to go along with my article. There in the bottom drawer, take your pick, that`s how they do it at Newsweak.
NBC/WSJ NYTIMES/ABC/WASH POST etc, they are all the same, all their polls are just garbage. You can even include Fox polls in that mix.
In the legit polls, if their are any (I say NO) She is in the margin of error on many
It`s also curious in polls that have her back 1 point, she never seems to be on top of a 1 % difference in the poll. In polls that have it so close, for her to never be on top, is very suspicious.
I saw a poll the other day had 3 of the so called top tied at 16 % I believe..guess who was on the bottom of the 3 way tie..bet you can guess.
Sarah had the MSM against her, working with the Republican establishment.. and you buy it all.
LOBOTOMY ANYBODY :)
You say you want a candidate that has broad appeal across the country? Then you want someone that is a Non Christian,Non pro life/ Non pro family candidate ?
Polls reflect the political bent of the pollsters - not much else.
In my opinion the GOP primary electorate is significantly more "moderate" than is Free Republic.
My evidence is simple: by the time my primary came around in 2008, the surviving candidates were: Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee.
FR can zot all the RINOs and "Mittbots" but that does not take them off the voting rolls.
So I do believe that Palin (if she runs) will try to appeal to that segment of the GOP electorate.
I don’t have faith in any of the *other* potentials in the general election. At least I know that Sarah is not afraid to fight, and will attack the Punk. Bob
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