Poll: Republicans like Palin even more now

The Alaska governor's decision to resign hasn't diminished the support for her

Published July 8, 2009 2:25PM (EDT)

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign her post hasn't affected voter's views of her all that much, a USA Today-Gallup poll conducted Monday night found. Democrats and independents have cooled slightly towards her, but Republicans actually view her more favorably than they did before the news.

Overall, though, the poll seems to reinforce the early impressions I wrote about on Saturday: If Palin does want to run for president in 2012, she's got a shot at victory, but it's a long one. Republicans tend to love her, so she'd probably do pretty well in the GOP primary. But Democrats and independents aren't nearly so enthusiastic -- 81 percent of Democrats say they're either "not too likely" or "not at all likely" to vote for her, while 53 percent of independents say the same thing -- and that doesn't bode well for her chances in a general election.

Palin's announcement last week might have given her a boost among her base, but that's not the audience she needs to be appealing to.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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