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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
In one sense, the poll still finds Palin near the top of a list of eight potential contenders for the GOP nomination. The former vice presidential candidate scores a 58 percent favorable rating, close to the 61 percent for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and 60 percent for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and better than the 55 percent that onetime House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) received.
But Palin’s unfavorable numbers are significantly higher than they are for any of these possible competitors. Fully 37 percent of all Republicans and GOP-leaning independents now hold a negative view of her, a new high.
In another first, fewer than 50 percent of Republican-leaning independents — 47 percent — hold favorable views of Palin.
She has given almost no indication of how seriously she is considering a 2012 bid.
Some have suggested that Palin and Huckabee, both of whom work for Fox News Channel, might need to decide before a May 5 presidential debate in South Carolina, which is being sponsored by the network.
It has long been clear that Palin is a polarizing figure amid the overall electorate — she typically receives negative reviews from Democrats — but this poll indicates that she may have a similar effect among some of the voters she would need to win the nomination.
Overall, 17 percent in this sample have “strongly unfavorable” opinions of her (among GOP-leaning independents, the number rises to 28 percent). At the same time, the percentage of Republicans and leaners with “strongly favorable” views is at a new low, 26 percent.
Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/post-abc-poll-shows-sarah-palin-losing-more-ground-among-republicans/2011/03/15/ABRtiNb_story.html
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