Palin's Favorability Ratings Begin to Falter

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:35pm

Gotta love it:
Palin's Favorability Ratings Begin to Falter

[DBillyP]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:49pm

It's about time.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:50pm

Dammit it's not showing for me.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:54pm

I can't access it either.

Dottie, can you cut and paste?

[KrissySim]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:54pm

Wait. Give it time, StockardFan, I took a long time to come in for me with a black screen in the meantime.

Wait in the general sense, too : -) It's not over until it's over. : -)

[blueroses]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:05pm

Palin's Favorability Ratings Begin to Falter
Andrew Romano


To know her, it seems, is not necessarily to love her.

When John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate late last month, the Alaska governor quickly became a media phenomenon. Largely unknown, she existed at first in something of an information vacuum, and due to the shock of her selection--everyone loves a surprise--the press rushed to fill the void with whatever data was easily available. Mostly this consisted of human interest material; Palin had plenty to go around. Mooseburgers. Float planes. Ice Fishing. Beauty pageants. Teen pregnancy. Et cetera. By the end of her first 15 minutes in the spotlight--which included her speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul--Palin existed mostly as an idea: a frontier supermom who'd triumphed over adversity (the Ol' Boys Club, the "liberal media"). Palin spent her first week reading from a teleprompter and avoiding questions from the press--and the public--so as not to sully this first impression.


The polls reflected the early success of her strategy. In the three days after Palin joined Team McCain--Aug. 29-31--32 percent of voters told the pollsters at Diageo/Hotline that they had a favorable opinion of her; most (48 percent) didn't know enough to say. By Sept. 4, however, 43 percent of Diageo/Hotline respondents approved of Palin with only 25 percent disapproving--an 18-point split. Apparently, voters were liking what they were hearing. Four days later, Palin's approval rating had climbed to 47 percent (+17), and by Sept. 13 it had hit 52 percent. The gap at that point between her favorable and unfavorable numbers--22 percent--was larger than either McCain's (+20) or Obama's (+13).

But then a funny thing happened: Palin lost some of her luster. Since Sept. 13, Palin's unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That's a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll with the smallest favorability split (+10) of any of the Final Four. Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least.

What happened? I'd argue that Palin's considerable novelty is starting to wear off. In part it's the result of a steady stream of unhelpful stories: her unfamiliarity with the Bush Doctrine during last Thursday's interview with Charles Gibson (video above); her refusal to cooperate with the Troopergate investigation; her repeated stretching of the truth on everything from earmarks to the Bridge to Nowhere to the amount of energy her state produces. That stuff has a way of inspiring disapproval and eroding one's support. (Interestingly, Palin's preparedness numbers--about 50 percent yes, 45 percent no--haven't budged.) But mostly it's the start of an inevitable process. Between now and Nov. 4, voters will stop seeing Palin as a fascinating story and starting taking her measure as an actual candidate for office. Some will approve; some won't. It remains to be seen whether Palin's recent slide will continue, or hurt John McCain in the polls. But it's hard to argue that the journey from intriguing new superstar to earthbound politician--a necessary part of the process--doesn't involve a loss of altitude.

Just ask Barack Obama.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: Also, it doesn't help when McCain's Victory 2008 chair Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, tells a St. Louis radio host that Palin would've been unqualified to lead HP--a slightly less demanding role than leading the free world. Today's exchange:

HOST: "Do you think she has the experience to run a major company like Hewlett Packard?"

FIORINA: "No, I don't. But that's not what she's running for."


Not the end of the world, obviously (Fiorina went on to say that Obama is even less prepared). Still, not the message the McCain campaign wants to be sending.

UPDATE, 5:47 p.m.: Fiorina explains what she meant to MSNBC:

I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation. I don't think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don't think Joe Biden could. But it is not the same as being the president or vice president of the United States. It is a fallacy to suggest that the country is like a company, so of course, to run a business, you have to have a lifetime of experience in business, but that's not what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Obama or Joe Biden are doing.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/16/palin-s-favorability-ratings-begin-to-falter.aspx

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:07pm

Quel suprise!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:07pm

Thanks, Blueroses.

[blueroses]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:11pm

You're very welcome.

[supportivemom]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:41pm

Well, she says she wants to get rid of outdated ideas of thinking yet she addressed an audience as guys and gals! I am NOT a gal! On The View today Elisabeth was saying it was sexist to say that Sarah is setting women backwards. Once again, Whoopi and Joy had to explain that it is her ideology that is backwards!

[Yawper]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:59pm

Alaska has received more earmarked dollars per capita (over $500) than any other state in the country so far this year. The number two state, Hawaii, has only received $226 per capita over the same time period.

I hate Carly Fiorina. She seems to forget that the HP board told her to get lost.

Posted: 9/16/08 at 7:23pm

I LOVE when these executives think running their company is harder than being president! The WashPo ran a column urging Sarah Palin to go straighten out the mess at either Fannie Mae of Freddie Mac as proof of her executve abilities last week- to the ABSOLUTE HORROR of the business community.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 10:14pm

Check out the purple headline from the Google News splash page. Even FOX is calling Palin a liar!

[supportivemom]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 10:51pm

Yeah- I'd like to see Sarah dressed as Tina Fey! I mean, what would you do, wear a suit with a button that says Weekend Update? Fox is having a love fest for Sarah and I just saw some of the interview with the first dude. He certainly doesn't come across as very intelligent. Like I said before, the more she avoids interviews and questioning, the more the public is going to realize this is a manufactured thing. Even one of the commentators on a news show (sorry, I've been flipping around so much I can't remember who) said that McCain just looks so uncomfortable with the message the GOP is giving him. He looks so uncomfortable whenever he speaks and it's pathetic that he has to co-host some of his rallies with Sarah. I heard that after she speaks, many people leave. I don't think it's because she is popular. People just want to learn more about her.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 9/17/08 at 12:27am

Well, isn't the first dude uneducated? Does he even have a high school diploma?