Palin Down the Toilet

by: tremayne

Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 14:07

Just this morning Marc Ambinder wrote:

America's gut reaction to Sarah Palin has been positive, and so her stumbles during the Charlie Gibson interview might not really settle in.

Based on the data we have, this is false. Palin is in a favorability free fall. In just 4 days, since her interview with Gibson in fact, the gap between those who view her favorably and those who hold unfavorable views has almost disappeared. According to Research 2000 polling, more than half the country held a favorable opinion of Palin during the 3 days prior to Sept. 11 (52%) while 35% held unfavorable attitudes. That was the day the Gibson interview aired. The 17-point net positive has fallen, as of today, to just 4 points:

Sept. 11: +17 net positive

Sept. 12: +14

Sept. 13: +9

Sept. 14: +5

Sept. 15 (today): +4

Palin is by far the least popular of the 4 candidates for Pres./VP and I don't think her slide is over yet. Because she is McCain's creation, she is taking him down as well. He had a +13 net positive just three days ago, then +12, then +9 and today just +6. By comparison both Barack Obama and Joe Biden are holding steady at +16 net positives.

As I argued yesterday, Palin can help drag down McCain. Certainly, in the end, it's about McCain. He decided she was the best prepared after all. Her inadequacy tells voters so much about McCain that bad news about her will continue to hurt him as well.