Sarah Palin

Has Sarah Palin's Star Status Dimmed?

David Taintor | April 5, 2012, 11:57AM

Perhaps the "lamestream" media can't be saved after all.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- devout aggressor toward the "liberal press" -- co-hosted NBC's Today show this week as ABC's Good Morning America, desperate to edge NBC in the ratings, enlisted Katie Couric's services. But Palin's appearance only widened the gap between Today and Good Morning America by 23,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Co. numbers reported by the Associated Press.

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John McCain

John McCain: iPads And iPhones Are Made In The U.S.A. (VIDEO)

David Taintor | March 7, 2011, 10:40AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday claimed Apple's iPads and iPhones are made in America.

This Week host Christiane Amanpour described ABC's efforts to empty a house of all products manufactured outside the U.S., after which McCain touted the Apple products' American-made roots.

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Iraq

Rumsfeld: Still No Apologies For Iraq

Andrew Jones | February 8, 2011, 3:38PM

Donald Rumsfeld

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continued his reappearance to the media world for his new book Known or Unknown: A Memoir. And he continued to defend his decisions on Iraq with little to no regrets.

On ABC's Good Morning America earlier today, Rumsfeld took a series of tough questions from George Stephanopoulos, including one which led him to deny that calls for increasing troops from top officials -- including Coalition Provisional Authority administrator Paul Bremer -- were ever made.

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2012 Presidential Primaries

Poll: Big Name Republicans Still Top 2012 GOP Field

Jon Terbush | January 20, 2011, 11:15AM

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK)

With one year to go before the first votes are cast in the 2012 presidential primaries, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee holds a narrow advantage nationally for the party nod, with Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney close behind, according to a new ABC-Washington Post poll.

Among a crowded hypothetical field of 14 candidates, Huckabee came out on top with 21%, though Palin and Romney were close on his heels at 19% and 17%, respectively. The poll has a margin of error of 5.5%, meaning the three front runners are locked in a statistical dead heat.

Beyond those top three candidates, the tallies drop off significantly, with no other candidate breaking into double digits. Newt Gingrich placed fourth at 9%, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (8%) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (3%). Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence, and Tim Pawlenty tied at 2% each, while Haley Barbour, Jon Huntsman, Jim DeMint, and Rick Santorum all garnered 1%. John Thune polled under 1%.

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Giffords shooting

Poll: Americans High On Obama's Tucson Response -- And Low On Palin's

Jon Terbush | January 18, 2011, 11:10AM

Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and President Barack Obama (D)

Sarah Palin may be reloading, but Americans are retreating from her--at least when it comes to how she responded to the shooting spree in Tucson that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in critical condition.

According to a new ABC-Washington Post poll, just 30% of Americans approve of Palin's response to the shooting, versus 46% who disapprove. That low approval is even more striking when compared to Americans' opinion of how Obama responded to the tragedy. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they approve of the President's response, while only 12% respondents said they disapprove.

Similarly, a PPP poll released this morning also found that a plurality of voters disapproved of Palin's response to the shooting. Forty percent of respondents to that poll said Palin's response was "inappropriate" compared to 27% who said it was appropriate.

And as Greg Sargent points out, not even a majority of Republicans think Palin handled her response well, according to the ABC-Washington Post poll. Forty-eight percent of Republicans said Palin handled the situation well, fewer than the 53% who said Palin's nemesis, the so-called "lame stream media," handled it well.

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2012 elections

Pawlenty: Palin's Gun Sights Map Not 'My Style' (VIDEO)

Jon Terbush | January 11, 2011, 12:01PM

In an appearance on Good Morning America today, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) pushed back against assertions that violent political rhetoric was to blame for the weekend shooting rampage in Arizona, which left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in the head. But Pawlenty said politicians must still be mindful that their words can potentially be misconstrued as incitement.

"There's no reason to believe, at this point, that there's any motivating factor tied to a particular politician or a particular show or a particular act. It appears to be the rage of a mentally unstable person, and sometimes they do irrational and senseless things," Pawlenty said. "Let's make sure before we make judgments or sweeping condemnations that we have all the facts up."

When asked specifically about Sarah Palin--who has been widely criticized for her PAC's map that used gun sights to target the districts of Democratic congressmen, including Giffords, who she hoped to oust in 2010--Pawlenty said there was no reason to believe that the map inspired the Tucson shootings, but that he would have been more tactful when launching a similar campaign.

"It wouldn't have been my style to put the crosshairs on there," Pawlenty said. "But again there's no evidence to suggest that that had anything to do with this mentally unstable person's rage and senseless acts."

Pawlenty had previously made similar comments to the New York Times.

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Allen West

Allen West Doubles Down On Support Of Anti-Gov't Radio Host: Criticism Is 'Absolutely Reprehensible'

Jillian Rayfield | November 16, 2010, 1:57PM

Joyce Kaufman and Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL)

On ABC's Top Line today, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) doubled down on his support of his almost-chief of staff, right-wing talk radio host Joyce Kaufman. Kaufman backed out of the job after increased attention to her pro-insurgency rhetoric.

She's a "very brilliant political mind," West said today.

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Andrew Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart To Provide "Analysis" For ABC News On Election Night

Brian Beutler | October 29, 2010, 7:00PM

Andrew Breitbart

ABC News has confirmed that conservative agitprop artist Andrew Breitbart will join the ABC News team to provide "live analysis" of election returns on Tuesday night.

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