A Big Fat Null Effect of Palin's Resignation
Pew survey from June 10-14, 2009:
45% - favorable view of Palin
44% - unfavorable view
12% - no opinion
PPP survey from July 6-7, 2009:
46% - favorable view
45% - unfavorable view
9% - no opinion (not reported, but presumed)
In addition, there doesn’t appear to be much change in perceptions of whether Palin is qualified to be president. Click the PPP link and compare to this figure by Charles Franklin. All this confirms Mark Blumenthal’s assessment, which predates the PPP results:
…on first blush, it looks as those Palin’s resignation announcement made less of an impression on Americans than the punditry of the last few days might lead you to believe.
By now, Sarah Palin is a well-known national figure, and people’s opinions of her have become mostly crystallized. It would be surprising for opinions to change dramatically, barring some truly incendiary scandal or her sudden ascension to heaven. Sarah Palin’s resignation, however unexpected, is neither.
Comments
Perhaps Sarah will come up with a “palinode” when it suits her purpose, politically or otherwise.
Posted by: Shag from Brookline | July 9, 2009 06:32 AM
For me, the only thing surprising about these results is that people are surprised by them. What a shocker - Democrats continue to dislike Palin and Republicans continue to like her.
Posted by: Jim | July 9, 2009 11:03 AM
I don’t think the impact would be reflected in poll numbers at this point. Where I’d expect it is that her fundraising for 2012 would run into more problems and she would get bad traction against the other Reps amongst the chattering classes. Really, the question isn’t whether or not people like her, it’s whether or not Republicans like her more or less than they like other Republicans. Your marginals could stay the same, but the rankings could change.
Posted by: Matt Jarvis | July 9, 2009 02:49 PM