Washington Wire (WSJ) — Once billed as the most popular governor in America, Alaska Republican Sarah Palin has seen her popularity take a dive.
According to a recent Hays Research poll, 54% of Alaskans have either a very or somewhat positive view of the governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee while 42% have a very or somewhat negative view.
What else would you expect after 8 months of relentless character assassination?
I agree. It is sort of like a learned behavior after a period of time. No person can sustain that kind of treatment and still remain popular.
And Obama will be worse soon, even with a sycophantic press corps.
Some polls survey likely voters, but do any survey people who read more than the headlines or use sources other than the MSM? If not, all one would hear is the negative drumbeat and will fall prey to it. Of course, that’s the intent.
Actually, according to some research back in 2000 done by Pew, likely voters is the way you want to poll. It gives a broader and more accurate opinion of the demographics.
That’s why you might notice the differences between Rasmussen, which actually uses likely voters, versus Gallup, who uses registered voters.
For example you can go to Real Clear Politics and see which polling agencies use registered. These usually are the ones which have Obama at a higher popularity rating. Likely voter polls have his ratings slipping. Keep in mind this is just as a rule of thumb.
Mike,
You are correct (or at least I agree) that likely voters is the interesting population for election polling. Further, most of the polls that show high polling for Obama are either “adults” or “registered” or some such very broad category. Some are also very disproportionately Democrat — as recent CBS (?) poll showed 38% D and about 20% R.
My point was something more to get at the information sources used by those who express opinions in polls. For example, a poll around the time of the election in ‘08 showed that listeners to talk radio are the best informed politically. Even with that, a large segment of the population either don’t have the time or the inclination to go beyond the MSM sound bite or newspaper headline. I would like to see a correlation of responses to polling and the news source. Certainly not everyone who is negative on Obama watches Fox and not all pro-Obama folks watch MSNBC. If that were the case, with the Fox ratings being so high he would have huge negatives!
Fortunately — and right again — most of the reasonable (i.e., likely voters, balanced samples, etc) polls show support for Obama slipping. Even with the glowing sound bites and headlines, more people are starting to pay attention. Whatever ones leaning, people paying attention is a good thing.
I believe it is a shame the way the media has portrayed Governor Palin. Alaskans should remember why they voted for her and what she has done for their state. I really do not believe this poll.
Give me an Alaskan phonebook! Let me take the poll!