Has former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin become the GOP’s Nancy Pelosi — a political figure popular with partisans but scorned and reviled by many of those on the other side? Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza think so:
Sarah Palin’s unfavorable rating has spiked to a new high, adding further fuel to the argument that her presidential campaign may be doomed before it begins.
A new Bloomberg poll shows the former Alaska governor is now viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of American adults. That’s higher than any other poll has shown, but it’s not even the entire picture.
Of that 60 percent, nearly two-thirds – 38 percent of all adults – say they view the former GOP vice presidential nominee “very unfavorably.” No other politicians tested even comes close, including President Obama (22 percent). What’s more, Palin’s unfavorable rating is more than twice as high as her favorable rating, which rests at just 28 percent. Another 12 percent aren’t sure how they feel about her.
The poll follows a long and continuous trend in which, as the presidential race nears, people gradually find that they like Palin less and less.
In fact, the numbers are starting to look a lot like someone else’s: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Except that they are worse.
They present some polling data and conclude:
For a long time, it was accepted that, while she might not be broadly popular, she would at least have enough juice with the base to perform well in the primaries. Recent polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, though, shows her dropping in those two states — including her ratings in Iowa, which would be a very important state for her. And Thursday’s Bloomberg poll suggests we might be getting to the point where Palin is a bona fide liability – ala Pelosi – for the GOP.
So far, Palin has been a limited feature in Democratic attacks, but rest assured that Democrats are recording everything potential GOP candidates say about Palin from here on-out.
The difference is that Pelosi was Speaker of the House and although it would have been nice (quite nice) if polling showed high acceptance numbers across the board, her political fate in the end was tied to how her party did and whether they won the House. This would be decided partially by her decisions as Speaker and the success of her abilities to pass laws and whether the laws were effective or not. But running for President is something far different: that requires an ability to peel off Democrats and all important swing voters.
Not only has Palin shown an inability to do so — by her rhetoric, unwillingness to face (except in a few cases) non-Fox News personalities (and bristling when Bill O’Relly dared to interrupt her and not let her hold forth with her political statements), and snarky triumphalism way of talking about Democrats and liberals – but she has shown an utter disinterest in doing so. Even mega-ideological candidates know that they need numbers beyond existing supporters to win elections. She has shown an inability and disinterest in appealing to them.
A Speaker of the House who is a Republican or Democrat can get away with that. A Presidential candidate who wants to be successful in a general election and not cost his/her party millions in wasted money spent on a campaign cannot.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.