So Much For The Pundits On Sarah Palin

Pundits and politicians love to invoke polls. Unfortunately, most of the Palin political obituary writers post-resignation can't really do that, at least not based on new Gallup results - no real change in her numbers and a full 12 percent have no opinion at all. Just think how lucky those people are to not have been subjected to the non-stop media Palimania last week!

It looks like ordinary voters may not care as much about Sarah Palin’s resignation as pundits do.

Last November, the American public was pretty much split into competing camps about the losing GOP VP candidate. Forty-eight percent viewed her favorably, and 47 percent viewed her unfavorably, according to Gallup data.

And now? It’s 43 percent favorable, 45 percent unfavorable, according to a Gallup poll taken from July 10-12.

“This suggests no widespread deterioration in her image after her surprising decision to resign her post as governor with more than a year left in her term,” writes Gallup analyst Jeffrey M. Jones.

In fact, the most startling thing about the new numbers may be that 12 percent of respondents said they have no opinion about Ms. Palin at all – good or bad.

Comments

[richard mcenroe]

She's Sarah Palin and We Support This Message!

[richard mcenroe]

She's Sarah Palin and we support this message!

Posted a trackback.

[syn]

I wager that as Obama's numbers drop, Palin's number rise.

Call it a hunch.

[mark l.]

wow, despite all those moderates that had been bombarded by the nyt, she lives.

nyt sends a 5 man crew to destroy her, and they can't even budge her out of the margin of error?

noted that this was gallup, the poll that missed the 2008 results, worse than ony other aside from zogby.

[wally sandaver]

"Poll: 55 percent say Sarah Palin unfit to be president"

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/07/palins-fitness-to-be-president.html

The Gallup poll, tracks pretty well with uneducated white people. Nothing wrong with them but they are dying off. Except on this blog and listening to Rush.

http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/pew_poll_palin_polarizes_publi.php

Mark, please, that NY Times article repeated Palin's own claim (and those of most of you here at Riehl World) - "Palin and American White people are victims." C'mon snap out of it Palin and Riehl worlders. Man up! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Make lemonade! Do something but please quit telling us what victims you are.

[Ran]

Let's see... 8:46 Holy Cr^p! It's way past Wally's bedtime. DAN! He needs a change and nice liberal story read to him.

[North Dallas Thirty]

"The Gallup poll, tracks pretty well with uneducated white people."

Interesting; if one looks at the Public Policy Polling link, Palin also has support among black voters as well.

So what's the theory there, racist Wally? Are you going to namecall those black voters and call them uneducated? Are you going to attack them as house slaves and Uncle Toms the way your Barbara Boxer and your Obama Party does?

[mark l.]

hmmm...

march 2008.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/105994/presidential-candidates-weaknesses-depth.aspx

"Nearly 4 in 10 of those who least want to see Obama elected (39%) say they believe he is "inexperienced" or "not qualified" to be president."

4 in 10 OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SEE OBAMA ELECTED.

things change.

[Lewis Barclay]

It seems to me that all this talking about Sara Palin is an exercise in futility. She wasn't elected, period. It's time to go on to something that is important.

[greg]

Now that Palin is free of Alaskan politics, she'll be traveling the lower 48 quite a bit. Her book will come out next spring, and will undoubtedly be a best seller. This far out from the election, she's in excellent shape. Romney's PAC raised $1.6 million in 6 months from fewer than 1,000 donors, and he's been holding fundraising events for himself. Palin's PAC raised $733,000 in 5 months from 12,000 donors with no fundraising events. Since her resignation she has raised over $200,000 more, add to that the money she's raised for her legal defense fund, and she's not far behind Romney as far as raising money goes, and she's done it without breaking a sweat.

Anyone who underestimates her does so at their own risk.

[ReaganTMan]

Pundits can't predict what Sarah Palin can do because they're not listening to her. They need to put away the pocket protectors and the "political science for dummys" book and accept the fact that the only person who has the answer to Sarah Palin is Sarah Palin.

Watch her become a force to be reckoned with politically now that she's free of the shackles of the governship.

[Ken Jantz]

I don't care what the pundits say. Sara Palin was the ONLY reason that sparked a resurgence in my interest in the political process.
She also continues to inspire me to continue looking at her as one that I can support for 2012. May GOD continue to lead her in what ever path she takes. She has my FULL SUPPORT.
I also want to say the sperm doner for her grandson is a big sleaseball.

[Moneyrunner]

It Looks Like Sarah Palin is Following My Advice
While all the "nattering nabobs of negativity" (to quote a former VP) were busy writing Sarah Palin's obituary while dancing on her grave, I predicted that she would come out and begin a conversation with the American people. Specifically, here is what I said in my essay What Palin Could, And Should, Do

Here's my suggestion for the key topic she should be focused on: ENERGY.

Outside of glaciers and polar bears, it's what Alaska is known for. It's also the area of Palin's greatest expertise. It also happens to be topic number one for most Americans. Every time they fill their gas tank, every time they pay their electric bills, every time they discuss "cap and trade," every time they see windmills on the horizon and know - in their hearts - that these ugly machines are not going to be the solution, they will think about Sarah Palin.

She will talk persuasively about the Democrats' refusal to tap the billions of barrels of oil in Alaska's wildlife refuge, about denying Americans access to clean coal in Utah, about the refusal of congress to explore for oil and gas off our coasts even as foreign companies are doing exactly that, about congress' refusal to allow the expansion of clean and proven nuclear power plants, the government's wrongheaded policies that make us rely more and more on foreign sources of energy even as they claim to be doing exactly the opposite.

She will be doing something that she does best: connecting with the American people in terms that they can understand. And she will be pointing out that the problem is a bipartisan one. She will have the opportunity to take on pandering and corruption on both sides of the aisle, just as she did in Alaska.

In Palin and the politics of abundance I said:
Sarah Palin can become the spokesman for abundance while the left preaches the politics if scarcity. The Left’s solution to the issue of energy is to try to cope with scarcity. Every “solution” they propose is build on the assumption that energy is going to be less available and more expensive. Even their technological fixes - wind and solar power – are no one’s idea of the source of abundant energy.
...
To this Leftist dystopia, Palin can bring the politics of abundance. The development of our own natural resources including oil, natural gas and coal. The re-vitalization of the nuclear power industry. Research can be funded to develop new power sources, but ones that are at least as efficient as current sources without requiring taxpayer subsidies to compete.

If given a choice between a vision of scarcity and a vision of plenty, a people will choose the path of plenty every time.

Sarah, are you listening?

Somehow, I suspect that she has it figured out already.

So imagine my surprise - NOT - when Palin emerges from her Alaska cocoon with an Op-Ed in the Washington Post The 'Cap And Tax' Dead End

Here's just a taste:
American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president's cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.

There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn't lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America's economy. ...

We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.

In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats. ...

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama's plan will result in the latter.

For so many reasons, we can't afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.

Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?

Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama's energy cap-and-tax plan.

There you have it: the politics of energy, the appeal to abundance rather than living with scarcity, the discussion of the issues that any American can understand.

I don't know why all those people who are being paid the big bucks for their opinions could not figure this out. Why they could be so far wrong and still keep their jobs as "pundits." But maybe I had the advantage of not living inside the Beltway and not taking part in "salons" and exchanging ideas with the other members of the JournoList. Sitting here at my desk in Tidewater Virginia helps to keep the mind clear.

As Elvis would say as he took a bow: "Thank you, thank you very much."