Palin 2012: little sign she’s serious

17 March 2011 |permalink | email article

Sarah Palin’s all-time favorability high was 88 percent when John McCain tapped her to serve as his running mate in 2008. Since then, it’s dipped to 58 percent but other factors paint an even bleaker picture, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds.

Last December, 59 percent said they would not consider voting for her for president (including 36 percent of leaned Republicans.) President Obama led her in general election preferences by 15-point margin. Last fall, moreover, 67 percent described her as unqualified for the position, including 49 percent of leaned Republicans.

She does Fox News interviews, Twitter updates, targeted messages on her Facebook page, and fires away at Obama and calling him the “4-per-gallon president.” She’s in India to deliver a keynote speech to a conference (probably for a huge fee) instead of working early primary states.

California special election

A new Field Poll and UC Berkeley survey indicates a strong majority of voters support a special election and support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to shrink the state budget deficit by extending temporary tax increases.for five more years. But most state voters would not support paying new or higher taxes to help close the $216.6 billion deficit. Poll director Mark DiCamillo said “They’re (Republican voters) against the actual tax extension, but they do want to vote, which is at odds with what Republican legislators are doing.”

Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters writes that about 90 percent of the men an women who hold seats in the Legislature are either true-blood liberals or red-meat conservatives even though polls have consistently indicated that only about half of California voters fall into those categories.

“That’s another way of saying that the state’s moderate Democrats, centrist Republicans and independent voters – half of the electorate – have only scant representation in the Capitol.”

The Field Poll implies that if Brown’s plan to make the June ballot – about a 50-50 bet as of yesterday – its success would hinge largely on how, Walters adds,  it’s defined to voters it what most likely would be a low turnout election.

Read ‘em and weep

“Boehner has a tiger by the tail. The problem with riding the tiger is you may end up inside it.” – Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat and a veteran Congressional insider on House Speaker John Boehner trying to serve two masters on the budget deal.

 

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