Demonization, to work, has to have total control of the conversation. Else it backfires among thinking people. I don’t put much stock in any poll, but anecdotally I can tell you the Palin smear job has not stuck. Yes, there are those who will believe and promote any lie that hurts a good conservative. But there are also many good people who understand what a smear job is and are willing and able to see past it, if only the truth is presented to them. I think Palin would come out of the gate much stronger than most of the nay-sayers realize. But that is an empirical experiment whose time has not yet come.
I hope so.