Go away, Slick Willard. You've destroyed enough of the GOP already.
Posted on 06/24/2009 8:23:54 AM PDT by GOPGuide
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has seen his favorability ratings improve and now enjoys a positive balance of opinion among the general public: 40% rate him favorably, 28% unfavorably. This marks a reversal of opinion from February 2008, during the latter stages of the GOP primary campaign, when just 30% viewed him favorably and 44% expressed an unfavorable opinion.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 10-14 among 1,502 adults reached on landlines and cell phones, finds that impressions of Sarah Palin have not changed much since the presidential campaign. Palin continues to be a divisive figure among the general public, with about as many saying they have an unfavorable impression (44%) as a favorable view (45%) of the Alaska governor.
Among Republicans, however, the balance of opinion about Palin is more positive than it is regarding Romney or other leading GOP figures, Newt Gingrich and Michael Steele. More than seven-in-ten Republicans (73%) express a favorable opinion of Palin while just 17% have an unfavorable opinion. Romney, Gingrich and especially Steele are less familiar figures – among the public overall and Republicans – than is Palin. While comparable percentages of Republicans rate Palin and the other Republicans unfavorably, far more view Palin favorably. And Palin continues to be overwhelmingly popular with key parts of the GOP base – white evangelical Republicans (84% favorable) and conservative Republicans (80% favorable).
Romney’s Image Improves Since February 2008, shortly before he abandoned his race for the GOP presidential nomination, opinion of Romney has improved across most political and demographic groups, but the shift has been particularly pronounced among independents. In February 2008, just 29% of independents had a positive impression of Romney while 46% had a negative view. Today, that balance is reversed: 44% view Romney favorably and 25% unfavorably.
Positive opinions among both Democrats and Republicans have increased by eight points since early 2008. Among Republicans, Romney has made identical nine-point gains in favorability among conservative Republicans and moderate and liberal Republicans; currently, 61% of conservative Republicans and 52% of moderate and liberal members of the GOP express positive opinions of Romney.
Romney’s favorable ratings have not changed significantly among white non-Hispanic evangelical Republicans; 54% have a favorable opinion now, compared with 52% in February 2008. Among all other Republicans, by contrast, positive opinions of Romney have increased by 11 points, while negative opinions have fallen considerably (from 31% to 16%).
Sarah Palin Favorability Almost a year after capturing the attention of the political world as John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin remains a broadly popular figure within the Republican Party, despite receiving mixed reviews from the public as a whole.
Palin received her highest overall favorability rating of 50% in mid-September 2008, shortly after McCain named her as his vice-presidential running mate. At that time just 34% expressed an unfavorable opinion of the Alaska governor, while 16% offered no opinion. But her favorability slipped later in the campaign. In mid-October, more people expressed an unfavorable opinion of Palin (48%) than a favorable opinion (42%). Since the election, public views of Palin have shifted only slightly.
Unlike Romney, Palin’s ratings continue to be much better among conservative Republicans (80%) than among moderates and liberals in the party (62%). And while positive views of Palin have slipped among non-evangelical Republicans (from 77% to 67%), they remain overwhelmingly positive among white evangelical Republicans (84% now, 85% last October).
Notably, as was the case during the election, Palin is rated somewhat better by men than she is by women. About half of men (48%) say their overall opinion of Palin is favorable, while 40% say it is unfavorable. Among women, the picture is reversed: 48% offer an unfavorable view, 41% a favorable one. This difference largely arises from gender differences in party affiliation. For instance, among Republicans, men and women express similar views of Palin (73% favorable).
Palin receives a more favorable rating from those with a high school degree or less (48% favorable, 36% unfavorable) than she does from college graduates (41% favorable, 52% unfavorable). Regionally, she is somewhat better regarded in the South (49% favorable) than she is in the Northeast (39% favorable).
snip
NOT ROMNEY! Palin -yes.
Let the Romney-bashing begin!
Go away, Slick Willard. You've destroyed enough of the GOP already.
Sadly, 0bama is so bad that he is making all GOP candidates look better by comparison.
I’ll second that. A Massachusetts Rhino will not be my President.
Sarah has may vote already all she has to do is decide to run.
Slick Williard will embrace Obamacare. Wait and see.
I think more people trust Palin.
There is a core there that isn’t going to cave.
Romney, NO!!!!!
Palin, OH, YOU BETCHA!!!!
Flip Romney is part of the problem, not part of the solution. It’s a mystery to me how this flim-flam artist has so many people fooled.
Embrace Obama’s plan, hell he made his own, I am sure he is willing to talk shop with Obama at anytime...
Embrace it ? Hell, he INSPIRED it !
opinion of Romney has improved across most political and demographic groups, but the shift has been particularly pronounced among independents.
Which Mitt Romney?
The pro-abortion or the anti-abortion one?
The pro-gay-marriage or the anti-gay-marriage one?
The pro-illegal-immigration or the anti-illegal-immigration one?
The Obama-is-lousy or the Obama-ain’t-so-bad one?
I can never tell which one we’re supposed to be talking about.
I concur. And I hope that the vitriol and vituperation that the ‘cool’ contingent directs against her (coupled with the sense of responsibility she clearly feels towards the well-being of the Republic) push many independents and Democrats to her the way they pushed me (erstwhile Democrat) to George W. Bush.
I love that you’re still holding on to the GOP. I understand Reagan’s commandment, but I’m sick and tired of this party and I think the time has come for the conservatives to just up and leave. I’m there. I feel no shame or embarassment about Ensign because I’m no longer a Republican and feel not one whit of loyalty to the GOP.
I’ve heard people say that about a Kenyan Muslim.
I think we will know when she decides not to run for reelection. The way the Dems have been after her in Alaska says it all about how much trouble they would cause if she ran and was Governor. The Ethics complaints keep getting thrown out but they keep filing them.
She needs to not run for re-election and spend her time in the lower 48 campaigning for Republican candidates. She brings the crowds to every event that the other candidates have not been able to achieve.
Signs point that she will not seek re-election.
Until there’s a viable political apparatus elsewhere we can use, we have no choice but to use the GOP as the vehicle for the Conservative movement. Remember, even if we were to create a new party tomorrow, let’s say, the “New Federalist Party”, it wouldn’t take long before we’d have the same problems erupt with a statist establishment t. Think of it as having to clean up a room stocked with junk every so often. If you don’t do it, it’s all gonna come crashing down on you. Running away won’t fix the problem. Eternal vigilance will.
I think Palin has a lot of potential. She wasn’t ready for the big show last time around and the McCain people never were able to utilize her to her full potential, but there’s certainly something there.
She needs to spend the next few years boning up on foreign policy issues and getting a professional communications team around her to avoid the embarassing gaffes from last time (such as the turkey slaughter episode).
She speaks to a lot of people who are sick of the DC crowd talking down to them (and I say this as a DC resident with some involvement in politics). She does have an uphill battle when it comes to the media- they loathe her almost as much as they hated Bush.
The GOP nomination is her’s to lose at this point. But, if Obama screws up as much as I hope he will, she will be in a decent position in 2012, if she chooses to run.
Could not agree more.
I always love the Pew poll because the headlines are never what the poll reveals. Note that among Republicans Palin has 73% positive name recognition and Romney does not. Ha Ha Ha Ha
Why would she ever choose to run in 2012 with so much going on in her personal life - including a son back from Iraq and presumably in college, a daughter in college, another daughter at such an exciting time in her life, making plans, an 8-9 yr. old and a toddler! All this while being obviously happily married to a hot Toddy. I wish she would, but I think it would just be wishful thinking.
And before anyone says anything, this has nothing to do with Romney or any other Republican mentioned by Pew. I'm not calling him a RINO or a conservative for that matter. I would be saying the same thing if Pew put out a poll saying everyone loves Sarah Palin. I truly believe the SRM polls played a large part in making both McCain and Huckabee appear far more viable than they were.
Getting away from the polls AND doing away with open Republican primaries will go a long way toward avoiding another election disaster in 2012.
Agree. Palin is a real Conservative. But...she has a general perception among the public as not being the brightest bulb in the package and not having command of national defense issues and she made too many gaffes during the last election. So did Biden but Biden gets a break becase he’s a lib and a male. If Palin can master the issues and make less mistakes when being interviewed, she’ll be formidable.
The media is going to pull out all the stops for RINO Romney, just like they did for McCain. They’ll do anything they can to get the weakest, most liberal candidate nominated.
I doubt she will run in 2012. Despite Obama’s best efforts to the contrary, the economy should have recovered by then and you can bet he’ll be taking the credit for saving us.
It’s tough to beat a sitting President if the economy is good and there’s no unpopular ongoing war. 2016 is more likely for Palin, IMO.
I don’t think that will work. I think they will be distracted fawning over Obambi.
Yeah- I think all of her political problems can be fixed by hiring a more sophisticated and professional staff. That’s the usual problem for Governors trying to step up onto the national stage- they need to replace a lot of the people who did a good job helping them run a state but who are not qualified for the big show.
There’s also the problem that Alaska is a pretty small state outside of the mainstream of American life. But, Palin can transcend this by doing what Reagan did- giving speeches to various organizations in order to show that she has a grasp of national issues.
Time will tell, of course. The political landscape is littered with the smoking ruins of the careers of hot rookies.
Thats what I fear as well. As much as Obama is trying to destroy this economy, eventually it will show SOME signs of life and the state-run media will give him every ounce of credit.
The average American idiot will swallow it.
Our hope is that ‘10 will be a hardcore conservative backlash to reign him in, while purging more RINO’s.
“Why would she ever choose to run in 2012 “
I think she’s a leader, leaders are born to lead. Not sit home.
Sarah Palin does not need to “bone up” on anything. She will decide to run or not. Fact is I don’t trust those who “bone up” on foreign policy issues -— it usually means that they have been coached into a position that has nothing to do with what is part of a core value
I do not care for Romney. I would not vote for him.
Obama will embrace Romneycare. Wait and see.
There. Fixed it for you.
Give credit where credit is due. Romney came up with government-sponsored socialized medicine long before Obama reached the White House.
The Pew Poll confirms what the RNC operatives say about Romney and Palin.
Having a 45% favorable / 44% unfavoroable is not good going into an election. The media has done its job on Palin. For Romney, the media will wait to attack him until he gets the nomination. So for the time being, expect good press for Romney from the MSM and talk radio.
Despite the gallup poll saying 40% of America is conservative, I am convinced that much of these conservatives get their news from the MSM and believe it. I have encountered many conservatives who repeat the MSM talking points perfectly:
Palin exploits Bristol and Levi for personal gain
Romney is brilliant and moral
Fred Thompson is lazy
Talk radio killed George Tiller
Until we find a way to counter the media, we won’t be winning another Presidential race again.
"Top 20 Recipients of AIG Contributions in 2008"
Mr. Romney "Disses" Amateur Radio In Televised Town Meeting
Romney is Obama in whiteface.
Without talking about who SHOULD be the nominee, I think who the GOP nominee is depends greatly on how bad things are in min 2011.
If things are portrayed as stagnant, but not horrific, Romney has the best chance. Romney might be able to overcome the Wall Street label and seem like a reasonable choice compared to Obama.
If things are labeled as a “depression” or similar to late Jimmy Carter, and the mood is desperation, Huckabee’s comforting minister will play a lot better with moderates and he is just conservative enough to get a lot of the base to come along if things are bad.
If the mood shifts to bloodless revolution, and people get ANGRY and ready to make a statement, Palin will be the beneficiary of that.
Romney represents a tweak of the status quo, Huckabee represents comfort, Palin represents sweeping change/bloodless revolution. Ron Paul is too old now, but his economic message would play very well as things break down.
Obviously if the media can spin a recovery, Obama will win.
This is also PERCEPTION...this doesn’t mean what the candidates say they are, are what they are.
In my view, winning the House is paramount. You can uplug a lot of the agenda with the House...IF the GOP shifts right. Big if.
Romney is a RINO and I will never vote for him. Never.
I believe it is possible by comparing the conservative bonafides and leaving the religious bigotry completely out of it.
"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"
"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"
Poor sport spoiler Romney attacks other GOP candidatesn:
Novak: "Fred Thompson drop-out rumors traced to Romney campaign"
Now be honest. If any politician was that popular with the base of her party. why would she not run?
Hey, any politician would die for those numbers.
Contrary to popular belief Sarah Palin is NOT stupid.
The flipside is, if the economy hasn’t recovered by 2012, Obama will be a marked man. Fair or not, the President gets the blame and the credit for what the economy is doing at the time.
Ditto
Showing the same respect for Gov. Sanford in this lynch-mob thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278245/posts
At this point, Sarah Palin is the Golvernor of a small state outside the mainstream of American politics and life. Like most Governors, she has little, if any, foreign policy experience. That's not fatal if you're running for VP, but the person at the top of the Presidential ticket needs to have answers for any potential questions dealing with foreign policy. When the time comes, if she isn't ready to give thoughtful, educated answers to foreign policy questions, she'll be doomed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.