Poll: Majority Of Voters Say Sarah Palin Is Not Fit To Be President
A new national survey from Public Policy Polling (D) finds that the American public has a pretty solid verdict on Sarah Palin: A full majority, 55% of voters, say she is not fit to be president, compared to just 37% who say she is fit for it.
In addition, respondents were asked whether Palin's announcement that she will resign as Governor of Alaska makes them more or less likely to support her for president. Only 30% say more likely, with 57% saying less likely, and 14% not sure.
Oddly enough, though, her personal favorable ratings might have gone up slightly, to 46% favorable and 45% unfavorable, compared to a 43%-49% rating last month.
From the pollster's analysis: "It's not surprising Palin's overall favorability numbers haven't declined since most folks inclined to dislike her already did before she announced she was resigning as Governor," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "But even among people with a positive opinion of her this move seems to have raised some questions about her
judgment such that a majority of Americans don't think she's fit to be President."
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Is there any polling on the preferences of likely voters in GOP primaries? That information will determine whether Palin runs more than anything.
I tend to think Palin is more viable than generally thought, and could at least ensure that Huckabee loses the nomination. That guy terrifies me more than any other potential nominee - he's batshit crazy, taken seriously by somewhat thoughtful people in the MSM, as conservative as Palin and capable of mounting an effective campaign based on pseudo-populist demagoguery of Obama's neoliberal economic policies.
July 9, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dead-on about Huckabee. If he can calm the Wall Streeters terrified of his economics, he could be very dangerous.
And the more popular Sarie is with the freakazoids, the better I like it. She gets 100 percent of the freakazoid vote in the primaries, barely getting the nomination, and 20 percent of the total vote in the general.
Fifty states, anybody?
July 9, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Huckabee can take on Wall Street in his campaign, then to the society as a whole it is beneficial. Wall Street needs to be reined in no matter by which political party. A candidate that bashes Wall Street has a chance of 80% better than a candidate that doesn't.
Palin, not so bright, at least is a sincere fiscal conservative. Don't say I am cynical, but maybe one day when the economy gets well and the deficit still runs over the roof, Palin may be what is needed, if the deficit hawk liberals don't act.
July 12, 2009 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Huckabee has no chance to be president. You simply can't deny Darwinism and win the general election. He is clearly content with remaining a marginal candidate.
July 12, 2009 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin, not so bright, at least is a sincere fiscal conservative. Don't say I am cynical, but maybe one day when the economy gets well and the deficit still runs over the roof, Palin may be what is needed, if the deficit hawk liberals don't act.
Fiscal Conservative? Palin!? She came as mayor to a city that had never been in debt, and left with it 18M in debt. Then she grew the state budget as Governor and grew Federal expenditures even more. She increased corporate taxes dramatically and distributed the proceeds equally amongst the population (socialism anyone?) and didn't save anything for the inevitable oil-price-meets-Earth event. Which is why she's jumping ship right now just as the budget goes to hell. Not her problem, right? She's a fiscal conservative!
July 12, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Palin, not so bright, at least is a sincere fiscal conservative."
She talks the talk, allright. My money says that she doesn't understand what she's talking about. Just like her self-appointed "expertise" on energy.
July 14, 2009 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
What Palin's recent move really says about her: She's a punk. She quits. She talks tough, which, like all the rest who do, proves she isn't. (When you in fact are, you don't feel compelled to remind everyone of it.)
July 9, 2009 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 55% doesn't surprise me, but the 37% does. Or, at least, it disappoints me.
July 9, 2009 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
EXACTLY. I was thinking the same thing. I know she has her crazy-base, but that 37% defies logic. Oh right, logic has no place here!
July 10, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is friggin' depressing that almost 2 out of 5 Americans think she can do the job. Of course, half of all American voters thought Bush the Lesser deserved a second term when his weaknesses should have been obvious to EVERYONE by 2004.
My country, what have you let yourself sink to?
July 10, 2009 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you keep in mind the mathematical reality that half of all people are of below-average intelligence, these things stop coming as a surprise.
If you add to that the corollary that there is far too much stupid in the world to account for it with just the half of the population who is of below-average intelligence, you've brought it all the way home.
July 15, 2009 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Her continued political viability will serve as an IQ test for at least a portion of the electorate.
July 9, 2009 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 37% is constituted by a good chunk of R's and some stubborn I's who feel she is being unfairly portrayed.
The point about how many Rs support her is obviously relevant to any chances the R nomination. However, it's just not clear to me that she really will do it....or at least that she would make it very far.
I'm reading Renegade right now (which is in general a disappointment) and it makes it very clear that running for president is harder than anyone can possibly imagine. Obama really struggled with it and look how with it he is. Palin could never handle that pressure.
And exactly how is it that running away from responsibility - twice now when you count her quitting the Alaska Oil Commission in a huff - acutally qualifies you to run the entire country?
If I'm wrong and she does run, it ain't gonna be pretty. The media eats up her victimized martyr schtick like candy.
July 9, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
can it ever be repeated enough what acceptance by this woman means in terms of how stupid a large part of the american people are?
the idea now that literally anyone can be seen as presidential boggles the mind.
July 9, 2009 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had no idea David Letterman was so influential. One tasteless joke about her family and her poll numbers plummet.
July 9, 2009 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
And his ratings rise! (Some credit is due to Conan's lameness)
July 14, 2009 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is silly! Of course I'm not President! President McCain is President! He picked me to be the President's wife! Girls can't be President! That's silly!
I'm glad I'm the President's wife! He picked me cause I'm pretty! Yay!
July 9, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you do igloo calls?
July 11, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
But if she really knuckles down for the next two years and studies hard and learns everything she can about ...
Never mind.
July 9, 2009 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe I'm the outlier here, but I don't think Palin wants to be president or hold elected office. I do think she quit because there's a scandal in the offing, but I don't think she'll run for anything, even if there isn't.
I believe Palin wants two things: she wants to be famous--more and more famous; an "A-lister." And...she wants revenge.
How can she get these things without having to worry what damage it does her? By becoming the Repugnicant Party's official "attack dog." Think about this: Palin can fly around the country, say all kinds of weird shit that whips the dumbasses who still vote R into a frenzy, appear on all the late-night shows in pretty, expensive clothes, make baseless accusations that get into the media meme and cause the Democrats trouble, and never have to worry about the public passing judgment on her (or really being fact-checked, since the media doesn't do that anymore)--because she's not running for anything. And she can play the victim.
Think Ann Coulter with her hair in a bun--only unable to form a complete sentence.
July 9, 2009 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really hope that her political career will falter (because of basic incoherence and smug ignorance--think about it, could Dubya make it as a talking head anywhere that really matters, including Fox? She can't either.) to the point that she will stoop in her pursuit of fame at any price to the level of treating the world to the poetic spectacle of a new reality show: The Palins!
July 12, 2009 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think my vote is with those who've said Palin quit to make a lot of money. If she can have power too, that's great, but if not, the money will be enough, although there will never be enough of it for her.
July 9, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree to some degree. And with thumbs before you. The piece of the puzzle that doesn't quite fit though is the abruptness of it all. What was the catalyst that made her do it so hastily and right before a long weekend?
July 9, 2009 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
My opinion of Sarah "in every respect Charlie" can't get any lower.
There is nothing complex about Sarah's give-upedness:
She believes her own hype. She really thinks she can lead her followers into the promised land... literally.
July 9, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think I agree with you. The woman is delusional. I do believe, however, she will probably make a lot of money and that's okay too. It's the American way, after all but she is unfit to hold high office.
She went to 6 colleges, never got a real degree and had a total SAT score of 800. You get 400 to start with!!
July 10, 2009 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
And we are surprised by these poll results because . . . ?
July 10, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin is now even more a total creature of the media than when she first crawled out of backward Wasilla and into public office. Her fate rests exclusively on the media covering her, which it will because it has no sense of judgment anymore. It mistakenly thinks the truth on any subject is equi-distant from any point of view on that subject. I never thought I'd point to Levi Johnston as a reliable source, but in the topsy turvy world of politics and primary sources, it appears Levi has made a good call. If he's wrong, Palin won't cash in; but if he's right, she will. Palin intensionally uses her family as political props, but lashes out when criticism ensues. "The Palins" could be a reality TV show that's a hybrid between the "The 700 Club" and "The Osbornes." Talk about riveting TV, but only "her base" would tune in. I can only hope she is the Republican nominee in 2012, so the nation can drive a stake threw her heart one final time. True Blood come true.
July 12, 2009 1:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin gets way too much attention from much of the media because people either love her or can't stand her. She is a lightning rod figure. As long as she illicits those types of reactions, she will, unfortunately, continue getting an excessive amount of media attention.
In terms of any presidential aspirations she may have, unless she can somehow convince her OWN party that she is qualified, she has no chance. Even then it would be difficult to see her winning, unless the economy gets a lot worse and Obama's policies are blamed. Then I think independents would flock towards the other candidate regardless of who they are.
July 14, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 37 % Americans may not be stupid except for their choice of news program. GIGO: seeing Palin as they do probably makes perfect sense if they are watching Faux Noose.
July 13, 2009 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin's public fighting with Levi Johnston is a political mistake. Levi comes across as an honest person who is just telling it like it is, and Palin looks like she's trying to bully Levi into shutting up. At least it makes for great political drama!
July 13, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
At least Sarah did what Levi apparently failed to do - pull out!
July 14, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who wrote the wapo piece for her?
July 14, 2009 7:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect that a sizeable portion of the 37% that think she is fit to be president are not fit, themselves, to vote.
July 14, 2009 6:17 PM | Reply | Permalink