PPP poll: Palin’s favorability at 37/55
posted at 9:07 pm on September 24, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Head-to-head with Obama, she’s steady from last month: He led her 52/38 in August and leads 53/38 now. But her favorables are in the toilet, dropping from 47/45 in July to 40/49 in August to … 37/55. The positive spin for Palin fans, I guess, is that the less the public sees of her, the worse she seems to do, which turns the conventional media wisdom on its head. Now that she’s reemerged to hit the lecture circuit, it’ll be interesting to see if she spikes up in October.
Another ominous trend: Her favorability among Republicans was higher last month than Huckabee’s even though he fared better against Obama overall (this month he trails by seven points after trailing in August by just three), but now he’s nudged past her even within the party.
He beats her among Republicans even in a hypothetical contest against Obama, winning 77 percent and losing just 13 while Palin tops out at 70 percent and loses 18. Even when you break it out by ideology, expecting the ‘Cuda to win big among conservatives, it’s a statistical wash:
Exit question: Where’s all the GOP Huck love coming from? Does he have that many fans of his Fox show? Or is he just drawing good vibes as the funny, genial southern guy, in contrast to the more polarizing personas of Palin and Romney?
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And when you point out my typos, remember the loaded shotgun.
lonestar1 on September 25, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Yawn, another thinly-veiled Palin hitpiece by AP.
Reminds me something. Back in October 1980 (just a few weeks before the election, not 3 years), Carter led Reagan by 47-39(!) in a poll done by a much more reputable polling firm than PPP.
I guess if AP had blogged back then, he would have yelled “Reagan’s poll numbers are in the toilet!!”
Norwegian on September 25, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Palin is a very appealing political figure and cultural icon to conservatives, but will never be president. I think indulging in that is pure fantasy – even delusion.
As for Huck polling well, I think it’s like a flashlight in a dark closet. At the moment he gets more face time via his Fox show and people have grown comfortable with him, but it’s a long way from prime time on a Saturday night TV set to the White House.
Romney needs to start coming out with ideas and becoming a more public figure if he wants to impact 2010 and have a shot at 2012. Just my opinions…
redfoxbluestate on September 25, 2009 at 4:32 PM
not sure if that was suppose to be sarcastic or not.
upinak on September 25, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Brand new Instapundit poll of Sarah vs. 11 other contenders:
Current results:
Sarah Palin 37% (617 votes)
Mitt Romney 15% (257)
David Petraeus 13% (221)
Condi Rice 9% (146)
Bobby Jindal 7% (121)
Other 5% (92)
Mitch Daniels 4% (66)
Haley Barbour 4% (64)
Bob Corker 2% (36)
Mike Huckabee 25 (28)
Gary Johnson 1% (19)
Mike Pence 1% (17)
1684 votes cast
http://poll.pollcode.com/SLd8_result?v
technopeasant on September 25, 2009 at 4:34 PM
37??? No multiple voting Allahpoondit.
Good4Onan on September 25, 2009 at 4:34 PM
You know what frustrates me as a Hot Air reader?
This obviously Bogus poll gets coverage, and STAYS on the front page, and yet, Sarah knocks it out of the park in Hong Kong, and stories about that are pretty much non-existent. The one post on it is up and gone in less than a day!
Even the freakin’ NY Times had pretty much nothing but great thinks to say about Sarah.
http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/sarah-palin-rocks-hong-kong/
Dr Zero had a GREAT piece, called “Leader Of The Free World”
Why isn’t THAT great piece of writing featured?
Sarah is indeed, the leader of the free world right now. She’s doing it with the sheer force of her personality, the sheer strength of her character.
Who knows if she ever even wants to be POTUS, but if you go to her FB page, which currently has 900,186 “friends,” about every fourth post on her wall is someone begging her to run!
If you watch this page, the traffic is phenomenal, I mean phenomenal. There are people constantly posting 24/7. Who else has that going on in the political world?
The ONLY politician’s face one saw on posters at the Tea Party protests around the country (In a POSITIVE way)is Sarah’s. These people are active, motivated, and energetic.
Put all of this together, and you have an incredible “get out the vote” team already assembled, THREE YEARS OUT from any election.
Here’s the OTHER thing about Sarah Palin. Sarah has been SO well vetted that there is nothing else “bad” to find out about her, nothing.
Once you like Sarah Palin, you LIKE Sarah Palin, and absolutely nothing is going to change that. No one is going to talk you out of that.
Who else can make that claim?
On the other hand, by working hard, having an actual message, and proving her “worth” this woman is converting people every single day. And again, once you are in, you are in with this gal.
Anyone who thinks Sarah Palin isn’t the next President, if she chooses to run, simply hasn’t thought this through.
gary4205 on September 25, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Yesterday this is what Mark Levin said:
“Today I am anointing Benjamin Netanyhu as the leader of the free world (for his speech at the UN);Sarah Palin you’re coming pretty close!”
technopeasant on September 25, 2009 at 5:20 PM
gary4205 on September 25, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Hey, you’re not kidding! If being an under-qualified, ignorant, narcissistic job-quitter wasn’t enough to snap you out of your zombie-like spell over this idiot, common sense doesn’t have a chance.
For your sake, I hope ObamaCare passes just so you can get some much-needed anti-psychotic medication.
Good4Onan on September 25, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Good thing i have Dem friends that have no clue I am a Conservative to help me put you in the nut house!
Alinsky’s Rules works both ways… *VEG*
upinak on September 25, 2009 at 5:41 PM
How DARE you sir! He is our President!!!
Chris_Balsz on September 25, 2009 at 5:42 PM
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/09/she-is-bright-they-are-stuck-on-stupid.html
Where I quote a NYTs report saying Sarah is bright.
MSimon on September 25, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Well I for one totally agree. She has never had any experience what so ever as President of the USA. We can fix that.
MSimon on September 25, 2009 at 5:58 PM
I’ve never seen a “under-qualified, ignorant, narcissistic job-quitter” command a response from the president during an address to Congress before. Obama’s standrads must be dropping.
darwin on September 25, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Funny, “Onan” means masturbation in Norwegian. Well, at least you’re good 4 something.
Norwegian on September 25, 2009 at 6:26 PM
You lie!
TimeTraveler on September 25, 2009 at 6:29 PM
LOL. Not on your planet, for sure.
littleguy on September 25, 2009 at 6:37 PM
QUITTER?…….seriously?
Bob Dole, ‘quit’ his Senate job for life in 1996.
Joe Biden, ‘quit’ his Senate job for life after the 2008 election.
and lest we forget…Our American Jesus quit his Senate job just before his inauguration Jan. 20th.
Lots of politicians could be labeled “quitters” when they move from one gig to another.
Palin is as much a quitter as you when you give notice you’re leaving and taking another job.
PappyD61 on September 25, 2009 at 7:18 PM
AP, if you use that picture of Sarah in that hideous brown-striped jacket one more time, I don’t know what I’ll do but it won’t be pretty!
I have seen literally hundreds of pictures of S.P. and all of them are better than that one.
(Her one fashion faux pas that I’ve seen.)
Given the fine speech she gave in Hong Kong and its joyous reception by a world hungry for Conservative ideas, ideals and values, even by some in the hard-core Left MSM, it’s more than obvious that you just don’t like her by the angle HA stories take on it and her and shows that you are more than glad to provide plentiful PDS troll bait at this site.
Jenfidel on September 25, 2009 at 7:36 PM
At least Palin did run for another office on the public dime. It is called having moral.
Clyde5445 on September 25, 2009 at 7:38 PM
How appropriate. Onan was the Bible character who was the brother of Er, who the Bible says the Lord “slew” because he was evil. Since Er died without any heirs, Onan was supposed to produce heirs by Er’s widow, Tamar.
It seems Onan didn’t want to raise any heirs to Er, but rather than saying no, he “cheated” by having sex with Tamar, but “spilling his seed” on the ground (coitus interruptus)
Regardless of what you think of Onan’s offense, it sure seems a weird choice for a screen name. Suggests someone who has “issues.”
Like being a cheap troll who delights in antagonizing people.
Then again, the name does seem to fit.
tom on September 25, 2009 at 7:58 PM
She chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 until her resignation in 2004. She was elected Governor of Alaska in November 2006.
She quit and became Governor. So much for the quitting-will-end-your-career meme. Facts are stubborn things.
Geochelone on September 25, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Sarah Palin is a true American. She’s got it all and will be the next Prez. I don’t care what the polls now say – The One is disintegrating by the hour. Sarah is the one the Dems hate………..that’s good enough for me and it will be a badge of honor for her as Americans continue to sicken of the Nazi, Marxist scum bag we now have……….
Cinday Blackburn on September 25, 2009 at 8:23 PM
He had standards to begin with? The bus he drives has an awfully big set of tires on it…
Dickie Dunn on September 25, 2009 at 8:29 PM
No disrespect intended, but it seems more than a little delusional to proclaim Palin will never be president 3 years before the next election, to say nothing of the fact that she’s still extremely young politically speaking, and could easily run for president in 2016, 2020, or even 2028, when she would still be somewhere in her 60’s.
I mean, most of those who have been criticizing Palin so harshly are the media that no one trusts all that much, Obama and the hard left Democrats who will be looking worse and worse as Obama’s disaster drags on, and liberal Republicans with their own ambitions.
I don’t see much future for Romney or Huckabee in the next election, since the next nominee will need to run a an outsider ready to reform Washington. That fits Palin, but not Huckabee or Romney.
tom on September 25, 2009 at 8:40 PM
I recognize the office of President…NOT THE MAN CURRENTLY IN IT!
BobAnthony on September 25, 2009 at 8:42 PM
If Mike Huckabee is not an outsider from Washington, DC, nobody is. During the 2008 primaries after he won Iowa by 9% over Romney who spent 3x the money, the Republican Establishment went Oh Oh, he just might be somebody the public likes, we have to do something. So all the radio and TV hosts criticized him all the time…making sure the public connected him to being a Baptist pastor so they wouldn’t vote for him. At the debates he got all the Christian questions. At one debate he said why do I get all these questions, I want to talk about my record in Ark. Then when that didn’t work, they all decided to just plain ignore him and maybe he would go away. People on his websites were so angry with the Republican Party and how they treated him, that some of them joined the Independent Party. Now Fox with O’Reilly and Hannity was the worst. he had offers from all the cable stations for a job. I don’t know how he could turn the other cheek and work for those two-faced people. the PPP last weekend, on Monday Sean showed small clips of Huckabee, Romney and Pawlenty and said “Let the games begin” He didn’t even mention that Mike Huckabee won by a 2-1 vote. On Wednesday this week, he had his panel and the subject was who would be our candidate for 2012. He mentioned everybody’s name except Mike Huckabee. Do you see what I mean….they are still ignoring him. But the people of the U.S. really like MH and that’s why he got his show. The media and Republ Establishment would not tell the truth about him, so he went directly to the American people. His show is the #1 cable show at 8:00 p.m. EST Sat. & mostly Sun. every weekend. He is repectful to his guests, doesn’t interrupt them and then responds with his Conservative answers. He even had Bill Mayer on…he listened to his rant about religion, then told him what was the truth about religion. Bill Mayer said he was the only Republican host who treated his guests with respect. He has consistently beat Beck and Sean (most of the time). So Mike Huckabee is definitely not a Washington insider.
He grew up poor and governed a very poor state. Some people have said all he cares about is himself. When he was Gov. they wanted to do repairs on the Gov. mansion. He got a double-wide trailer and lived in it for a few months so he wouldn’t spend lots of the taxpayers money putting him and his family up in a swanky hotel. He relates to the poor and middle class and can explain difficult legislation to them so they understand it. He has excellent communication skills.
Yes, he does not like Mitt Romney, but it has nothing to do with his religion. He doesn’t like the fact that Romney changes his positions all the time and has no principles. Even Ted Kennedy said the same thing about Romney when he ran against him for the Senate in Mass. He apologized for the comment that he said (even though I found out in the last two years from LDS people that it was a true statement). If you are Christians, then it’s time for you to forgive him, don’t you think? I heard a Larry King show that MH was on and he apologized to all the Mormon people. That should be the end of it!
Of course if there was ever an insider to Wash, it’s Mitt Romney. The radio and TV pundits pushed him every day for VP during the primaries.
VFT on September 25, 2009 at 9:59 PM
You left out the best part WHY she “quit” the AOGCC.
Before she ran for Governor, she left the AOGCC because of corruption her boss, the Governor, wouldn’t let her clean up. She spent the next year taking down the entire corrupt Republican party, then she took down the Governor.
To me, that was just a nice dress rehearsal for now.
Of course, the Alaska Mafia was causing her and the Alaska taxpayers grief with all of the phony ethics complaints, but the other motivation was early on she knew Obama was dangerous, and realized she couldn’t do anything about it as Governor of Alaska. She was literally chained to the office.
It took her a year to take down Murkowski’s “Corrupt Bastards Club.” These guys were said to be as corrupt as anything out of Chicago. If she could do that in just a year, think what she can do in three!
Let’s face it, before she “quit” she was hammering Obama pretty good. Now that she has nothing but time, she is laying the ground work.
“Death panels” has become part of the lexicon. And with that, she fatally wounded Obama’s deathcare. And she at least stopped cap and tax, for now.
She is obviously disgusted with Obama and will give it her all to stop him.
I don’t think Sarah is a vindictive person, but we ALL know the worthless bloggers, Jeanne Devon, Shannyn Moore, Biegel, and others, work working under orders from Pete Rouse, or David Axelrod. You got to know, at least in a small way, taking Obama down is personal for Sarah.
My guess is if they already don’t wish it, pretty soon the Obama thugs will be wishing they had left this gal alone to govern Alaska in peace. So Sarah is uniquely motivated to take Obama down.
Never mind the fact that she was an awesome Governor, and will make a great POTUS. That’s just the cherry on top of this deal!
gary4205 on September 26, 2009 at 1:56 AM
gary4205 on September 26, 2009 at 1:56 AM
An excellent analysis.
I also think that Obama and his war room read the political lay of land very well after the 2008 election.
Those Democrats familiar with Jimmy Carter and his demise as a result of Reagan and Reagan conservatism realized that the fatal mistake that his team had made in the late 1970’s was to completely underestimate Reagan and the power of Reagan conservatism to command such a huge following. To be fair Carter did not end up running against Reagan but Ford in 1976 and beating him so his team did not have any direct encounters with Reagan before 1977.
However, in 2009 with Obama’s team having experience with Sarah Palin as the VP candidate and not wanting to repeat the same flawed reasoning of underestimating Palin between 2009 and 2012 Obama’s war room decided to adopt a continuing strategy of search and destroy by trying to cut Sarah off at the knees or nip any potential presidential aspirations in the bud way before the 2010 midterms. Plus Obama hates her guts.
Thus the multiple episodes of the anklebiters and the ethics complaints and constant harassment by them and the MSM keeping Palin under siege on a 24/7 basis using Alinsky-type tactics.
You can go back to spring 2009 on various right-wing blogs and I was one of the few iconclasts who recommended that Sarah not run for re-election and instead leave office sometime around the spring of 2010 when her book came out or even sooner.
I had already figured out that if Sarah had presidential aspirations she needed the extra time to get her ducks in a row and set up a campaign infrastructure including hiring staff but also quite simply needed to spend time in the “wilderness” (without a job)like Reagan between 1977 and 1981 so she could devote her full attention to her national aspirations between 2009 and 2012 and yes bone up on national issues and like Reagan have the time to do the research which she could use as “ammunition” to reinforce her Reagan conservative arguments and policy positions. My contention was that no man (woman) can serve two masters (being a full-time governor and run for POTUS) and even if one could the logistics of travelling back and forth between Alaska and the lower 48 made it prohibitive.
The point I made the time and the point I keep coming back to in my posts is that Sarah’s presidential aspirations will be virtually decided by her input as a battleground commander in the 2010 midterms and the measure of success she is able to orchestrate in terms of the gains the GOP makes in the House and the Senate and/or whether the GOP can take back one or both houses.
All along I knew if Sarah decided not to run for re-election and left office early there would be the criticism of her not having enough experience or gravitas to be taken seriously as a WORTHY candidate for the presidency, a problem of LEGITIMIZATION.
Suffice it to say I knew that Sarah had the three things in abundance that all presidential candidates wish they had: charismatic personality, the ability to raise an unlimited amount of money, and the eloquence to register with masses of voters and convince them to her way of thinking.
So if only people could see that Sarah was not a flake, an idiot, an unsophisticated country bumpkin but could see that Sarah was intelligent, was conversant on the issues, especially foreign affairs and could conduct herself in a manner that got millions of people to think, yes perhaps I misjudged Palin because of Tina Fey, the Couric interview, and the MSM, yes I will give her a second look.
And for that to happen gary4205 IMHO Sarah needed to leave office as early as she could to develop her credentials and re-invent herself in the minds of the fence-sitters and doubters among the GOP establishment and right-wing media.
I agree with you: the Obama war room hugely miscalculated the effect the constant harassment of Sarah had on her personal ability to govern Alaska, let alone her ability for her and her family to have “normal” private lives. The expressions that come to mind are overplay your hand or hoisted by your own petard.
No way did Obama’s team think that Sarah would leave this early. I think they had assumed like me that Sarah was not going to run for re-election but I think they bought into the mythology that “Sarah loved Alaska more than life itself and would never abandon her state without serving most of her term in office”. Thus she would be kept under siege till at least summer or fall 2010 and be late in getting her presidential campaign off the ground or impacting the 2010 midterms. Never in their wildest brainstorming (including my own secret preferences) did they think Sarah would leave office so soon (July 25th).
Now to why Sarah left office: at the time more was made of the siege she was under by the MSM and even some right-wing pundits including John Ziegler and less of any future presidential ambitions down the road.
As a iconoclast I took the opposite view at the time and her resignation speech on July 3rd provided an omen of future political activity when she said (paraphrased) she was shifting to the high ground in order to advance in another or different direction. At the time I firmly believed that Sarah had decided sometime in the late spring she wanted to pursue national aspirations but wanted to stay in office till at least till the end of the year but get out before she would have to face those stupid ethics rules that she could not be “partisan” while the legislature was in session and that included no active participation in national politics till at least May 2010. You saw what happened to Sarah in the first half of 2009, while trying to navigate her way through managing her gubernatorial duties and SarahPac activities simultaneously. IMHO she did not want to go through that headache again.
But then I think Sarah truly realized that there was no way she could function properly under these overwhelming and oppressive conditions and thus moved her resignation timetable up accordingly. But I refuse to be so naive to think that Sarah would not take advantage of this “extra time” to start her journey in the wilderness sooner and make the best use of it to prepare for her journey to possibly embark on a presidential path in 2010 and 2011.
I predicted that August she would use as “training camp” to prepare herself for the battle ahead. And then she brought out “death panels” and hit Obama very hard throughout August.
And then this week we have the HK speech which I believe will stop the pundit talk that she has “to bone up”. Evidently that is what Sarah has done; all you have to do is read her speech on Facebook to know that.
Sarah is definitely further ahead to the goal of LEGITIMIZING her worthiness for higher office than I thought she would be now but I admit she still has a long way to go yet, but what August and September prove to me is Sarah is not about to go away; she will continue to be a thorn in the side of Obama and the GOP establishment and that she will continue to make huge strides to LEGITIMACY between October 2009 and April 2010 as she gives more paid and unpaid speeches, writes op-eds and follow the “wilderness” path that Reagan laid out 30 years ago.
Then her book will be released and Sarah’s momentum will be huge and may carry her right through the midterms and catapult her into the primary season in the ascendancy. By then it may be too late for any of her opponents, on the Left or Right to stop her or at least slow down her bandwagon.
When you think of Sarah Palin as a bird in flight in 2010 and 2011 think of Tiger Woods winning 8 times in 1999 and never looking back.
it is obvious now why Obama’s team wanted to take Sarah out ASAP.
technopeasant on September 26, 2009 at 4:59 AM
The continued unapologetic defense of Sarah Palin here is something I’ll never figure out. I value my legislators serving their terms out and not quitting on their constituents unless they are in the heat of an active and current political campaign.
I know the Palinites all get into a froth when you call a quitter a quitter for a ton of reasons — but in the end, the only way you can change the corrupt minefield of politics is to be a part of it. You can’t change it in Hong Kong…you can’t change it on Facebook…you can’t change it by quitting on the people who elected you to serve. Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe have caused more change in this country with regard to ACORN in the last three weeks than Sarah Palin has caused since the 2008 Election.
If Palin were in the midst of a current campaign, the resignation is more noble. Quitting three years and four months from the 2012 elections is nothing more than her political immaturity at work.
All these Reagan are also hilarious — Reagan served two terms as governor, somewhat successfully in the midst of battling a Democrat legislature, and was a very known and relatively well-received commodity in the GOP. He wasn’t the star in ‘76 but ran for President, battled Ford to the end, and almost got the nomination. He then spent four years working to improve his message…it was hardly “wildness” time since Reagan actually had a rather decent political record and had been commentating on political matters going back to 1964 (”Party Left Me” speech) and even before. Palin would need to be on the sidelines until at least 2020 to match Reagan’s political commentary experience alone. Perhaps then, she may be better prepared for the office of President. Until then, there’s no way she’ll get my vote.
Dickie Dunn on September 26, 2009 at 6:53 AM
Gomer Pyle was popular too but he was never class president!
chickasaw42 on September 26, 2009 at 7:46 AM
Dickie Dunn on September 26, 2009 at 6:53 AM
ROFL. “they only way change the corruption is to become corrupt” Did you think that one thru before posting it? So I guess the cops are doing it wrong. If they want to change crimnal behavior they should become crimnals!
Your logic is flawed.
unseen on September 26, 2009 at 7:51 AM
Could also be constant harassing lawsuits at work, something Reagan never had to deal with.
Of course not. Mitt and victory in 2012!!!! Yeah.
ddrintn on September 26, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Probably a wash. Sarah Palin brought more focus onto health care rationing with two little words than everyone else in the GOP combined.
ddrintn on September 26, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Eat your heart out Palin Haters cause she’s strong, she’s smart and she is going to kick a–. Strong women draw a lot of fire from other women and weak men.
Herb on September 26, 2009 at 9:05 AM
AP, time to take this off the front page.
the poll is meaningless. they don’t publish the polling standards. hell, they could have polled just the people in the office.
I just did a poll that’s just as valid
obama 75%
clinton 20%
ron paul 5%
I laid out some newspaper under the rabbit’s cage and that’s where they dropped Little Green Footballs!
warhorse_03826 on September 26, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Update on most recent instapundit.com poll on Presidential preferences:
Current results:
Sarah Palin 41% (3864 votes)
Mitt Romney 12% (1166)
David Petraeus 12% (1119)
Condi Rince 8% (761)
Bobby Jindal 6% (573)
Other 5% (497)
Haley Barbour 4% (387)
Mitch Daniels 4% (371)
Gary Johnson 3% (281)
Bob Corker 2% (202)
Mike Pence 2% (172)
Mike Huckabee 1% (142)
9535 votes cast
http://poll.pollcode.com/SLd8_result?v
technopeasant on September 26, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Hear hear. It is funny how people can twist someone quitting her active job to the same as people essentially getting promoted.
The people of Alaska elected HER to lead their state. She quit on them. End of story.
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 12:05 PM
A Axe:
Let’s say your in a foxhole pinned down by rocket fire and a salvo of bullets relentlessly coming from all different directions that endangers your survival and prevents you from sallying forth to mount any sort of offense what would you do? Do you think if the barrage ever stopped you might think about ABANDONING the foxhole and move to a different location and thus escape from being under siege so you could re-engage the enemy under more favorable conditions.
That is exactly what Sarah Palin has done to escape from the anklebiters and the multiple ethics violations which have been proven to be unfounded or without substance. As she announced in her resignation speech she was relocating the high ground so she could advance in a different direction.
You act like by resigning from being governor that Sarah has abandoned Alaska. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sean Parnell took over and is following her game plan to the letter, while she has moved in a different direction. “Death panels” has definitely changed the healthcare debate. And there is word that cap and trade is dead in the Senate. Sarah’s op-eds may have had some influence on putting the kibosh on it.
technopeasant on September 26, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Relax technopeasant.
Sarah Palin said she didn’t want to be a lame duck. Anyone with a proper education would know that you become a lame duck … after your successor is picked.
I didn’t know she had to quit being the Governor for her to write an op-ed. Honestly – all you need to do is think how you would have treated any other politician (even Huckabee) if he had quit. In your world somehow everyone is so much meaner to Palin than they were to Bush and Obama.
She pulled out an easy excuse, and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Resigning the top job in Alaska *IS* abandonment.
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 12:22 PM
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 12:22 PM
If you mean Sarah ABANDONED being governor to survive, yes Sarah left her job for that reason. I disagree with you about comparing Palin’s plight with Bush and Obama. Bush had the WH to protect him and Obama had the MSM to protect him from criticism. What was employed against Palin were Alinsky tactics that simply were designed to bankrupt her, keep her under siege on a 24/7 basis and to stymie any opportunity for her to perform her job as governor.
Resigning was NOT an easy excuse but done with great deliberation. She ABANDONED the foxhole.
If anything Obama and his warroom got hoisted by their own petard. They thought they had her pinned down for the duration but she eluded their grasp. If you do not grasp that Sarah was escaping from Alinsky tactics then you are denying reality.
technopeasant on September 26, 2009 at 12:38 PM
You are overly invested emotionally.
Switch places with any other Republican Governor. You would be calling him/her a quitter. Can’t have it both ways. Imagine if Bush had said that he knows all about Mexico because he can see it from his house. Hah.
No one faced more criticism than Bush (me included – I did not like that guy).
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 1:20 PM
Insty and his readers are “Palin Cultists,” obviously.
/sarc
cs89 on September 26, 2009 at 1:34 PM
Under the same set of circumstances? I wouldn’t condemn anyone. Those circumstances include a slime machine intent on fostering lame memes like “I can see Russia from my house”. Show me where Palin ever said that, genius.
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 1:20 PM
ddrintn on September 26, 2009 at 1:48 PM
I have explained why Mike Huckabee is NOT a Washington insider. The folks in Washington are much nicer to Sarah than they are to Mike even now. They talk about Sarah and give her some coverage when she does something like the China speech. When Mike Huckabee won the VV poll why over 2-1, he wasn’t even mentioned as a winner on Fox, Redstate, or Townhall. They ignore everything he does.
Many Sarah supporters mention on here that she is the only one going against Obama…that’s not true. MH goes against him on his show every week and in his messages to his supporters. Very seldom is that ever mentioned. Pawlenty has gone against him lots recently. Even Romney has gone against Obama.
Mike Huckabee has shown true leadership when he does or says things that he knows the Establishment doesn’t agree with. He would not rule by polls, but what is best for the American people. When he was Gov. of Ark. the condition of the State was terrible and he had no money. The people in that state voted for him to raise taxes to fix the poor education and roads. He didn’t deny his state those needs because he wanted to run for President (he knew he would take a lot of flak for raising taxes). But you know what, he put the people in this State first before his own ambitions and did the right thing. He would do the same as our next President. He stands by his principles (doesn’t change them because he governed in a very Democratic state) and he is an authentic, caring person. Sarah Palin is too and I would vote for her if MH doesn’t decide to run. I think MH would be the person that people vote for as a Soc. Conservative more than Sarah because of his past experience and people will think that Sarah would have a much harder time in the general election because of her media baggage and because she quit as Gov. The Dems will never let people forget that.
VFT on September 26, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Mike Huckabee said that the Presidential primary,as hard as the elites were on him, was nothing compared to the politics he had to endure in Arkansas. They are very, very hard on Republicans there (remember they are supported by the Clintons). When the Gov. of Ark was indicted for a crime, Mike Huckabee was the Lt. Gov. so he then became Gov. The Dems nailed the door shut to his Gov office from the inside, so he just went into another much smaller area and did the job as Gov. They also made many lawsuits against him, (like Palin), but he was never convicted of them. But one of his rivals, and now his followers, bring that up all the time just to turn people away from MH. How would you Palin supporters like to deal with that all the time? During the primaries the media (club for growth) put on a video of Mike Huckabee saying he would sign any kind of tax increase the state wanted. What they don’t say is that he had to balance the budget in Arkansas and couldn’t without the huge Democratic legislature in office when he governed. He had tax cuts he vetoed, but they overruled his veto, and his rivals bring that up as his tax cut. People say he gave scholarships to illegals, the truth is that he said the children should not be punished for their parents illegal activity, and he also said THEY HAD TO BECOME CITIZENS OF THE U.S), but nobody printed that part. This was voted down,so they didn’t get the scholarships. You see why you need to go to Hucksarmy.com/forum/Mike Huckabee and the Issues to see the rest of the story that the half-truth ads and media didn’t say during the last primary so you will know the whole truth?
You can’t compare one state’s Governor rule to another because the circumstances are very different and that’s not comparing apples to apples. Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the U.S. and their needs and resources are much different than other states. Mike Huckabee did a good job in Arkansas as Gov., he was voted in for two more terms in this Democratic state. He got 48% of the black vote in his second term, and he is the only Republican candidate who can get some of the black votes in the General Election against Obama…they know he is fair to them and likes them,(doesn’t pander just to get votes).
In March, 2008, Mike Huckabee still got 65% favorability from Arkansas. He won over 80% of the Arkansas voters during the primary.
VFT on September 26, 2009 at 2:17 PM
VFT on September 26, 2009 at 1:56 PM
I agree with you completely. MH doesn’t get the respect he deserves from the MSM.
My bone of contention with Huckabee is not his public persona as portrayed by the media (Elmer Gantry) but his liberal fiscal positions.
technopeasant on September 26, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Spot on man, spot on. I’ve been watching Sarah since she became Governor. The woman has continually amazed me with her abilities. I’ve also seen her grow a lot in a short amount of time, she is a very quick study! It doesn’t take her long to learn new stuff, or figure things out.
I have to admit, the resignation caught all of us in my group totally off guard, but it made perfect sense. It was a bold move, a smart move. It was equal parts Alinsky and Sun Tsu!
Now, for those few liberals here that are still slinging the “quitter” meme out there. Allow me to quote the Great Ronald Reagan:
“Well, it’s not that our liberal friends are ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
We covered this deal extensively, and I wrote a lot about the Alaska Mafia which I suggest you liberals check out here.
As in most situations it’s complicated. But this all boiled down to the fact that a very small group of nasty, evil democrat/communists, working with direction from the White House (Pete Rouse and David Axelrod) were working night and day to derail Palin’s governorship.
We all know that all of the bogus lawsuits cost her personally around a half million dollars, defending against them, even though they were all thrown out. But what some conveniently leave out, is the fact all of this nonsense had cost the Alaska taxpayers $2 million.
You have to know Sarah Palin as a budget hawk to understand just how much this pissed her off. This is someone who had slashed budgets in Alaska, sold of the previous Governor’s private jet, and even fired the Mansion’s executive chef, and staff! Hell, she even refused a driver and car, as she preferred to drive herself to work in her own car!
Sarah even turned down a $25K a year raise this year. You think someone who did all of that would allow these filthy, worthless democrat/communists to continue to steal millions from the Alaska taxpayers?
Biegel, Devon, Moore, and the rest were actively recruiting people to file these bogus complaints, and they were becoming more frequent. We figured if Sarah had stayed in office, if the BS continued at the same rate, these reprobates would have stolen roughly $10 million from the taxpayers.
For someone with Sarah Palin’s integrity, the decision to leave wasn’t that hard to make. It was the right thing to do, and for a whole host of reasons, the smart thing to do.
Sarah had already fulfilled all of her election promises, so she did not leave the Alaskan people in the lurch. And as technopeasant points out, she handed over the state to her Lt Governor, Sean Parnell, and his hand picked (by her) replacement: Lt General Craig Campbell, the former commander of the Alaska National Guard. Those two are still doing what Sarah would have done.
Claude Sandroff over at American Thinker wrote a great piece called Virtue and Sarah Palin. As he put it:
The fact is, everyone in Alaska who knows the facts of the situation understands and appreciates why Sarah did what she did. She sacrificed herself, to some extent, for the good of the people she served. It doesn’t get any better than that.
It’s called integrity!
gary4205 on September 26, 2009 at 2:39 PM
technopeasant,
As I stated the State of Arkansas was in very poor condition when he took office with over $200M in deficit. The Dems before him (Clinton) didn’t care enough about the state to spend money..they cared more about their record than what the state needed. The Club for Growth quoted that his spending was very high in Arkansas. What do you think would take care of the problems he was left if he didn’t spend? There wasn’t any fat to cut in Arkansas because they didn’t have much. Not every state is like what he got handed to him..so why judge him by what he had to do to help the very poor people in Arkansas? The state grew under his leadership,so yes there was more spending because of the needs of the people. There are statistics (but I don’t remember them) that prove that the spending was in line with the growth, percentage wise, but when a person is painted as a liberal, all of these things should be taken into consideration as well.
He never forced his religion on the people of Arkansas and promised not to as President.
What you saw in ads, etc. were half-truths from his rival and the Club for Growth. BTW, over $500,000 was donated to the CFG by Romney and his surrogates before and during the primary of 2008. Do you think that it was an accident or coincidence that the CFG targeted Romney’s biggest rival in Iowa, Mike Huckabee? That’s one of the reasons the supporters of MH don’t like Romney. None of the other candidates liked Romney during the primary because he attacked fellow Republicans. He could have spent that money building himself up, but look how he governed in Mass. He left the roads in MA in terrible condition. He raised fees, not taxes so he could claim he didn’t raise taxes (same thing when it comes out of your pocket). Romneycare anyone…the radio and TV pundits who pushed Romney every day on their shows didn’t even mention this program because just like the MSM with Obama, they didn’t mention anything the Republicans might have a problem with. But they sure said EVERYTHING they could against MH (they didn’t want him and still don’t). BUT the people of this country love Mike Huckabee and showed that in their votes in 2008. MH is the only candidate who was in the black after the primary. He ran his campaign on approx. $5M against $70-80M? from Romney. That’s being a fiscal conservative. If he had the money to put up ads to explain his positions (or given a chance to explain them during the debates when they only gave him Christian questions, he would have been our nominee. I think now that Obama has shown the country how horrible he is as our President, maybe the country will be ready for a change.
MH was rated in the top 10% as a corrupt politician, but like Sarah Palin, the Dems couldn’t say anything bad about what he did for the state, so they made up bogus lawsuits for corruption (he wasn’t indicted). Again, things his rival used against him.
They said he took presents when he left office…he and his wife got a new house, and their friends wanted to buy them housewarming presents. There was no such thing as a Housewarming list at the stores, so they listed it as Wedding gifts. Their friends knew what it was…but again the media and his rivals said they had been married for years and they just wanted gifts and money. Do you see what a simple explanation that is, but the Dems in Arkansas were ruthless and they hated him because he was a successful Governor.
Look on his website, Hucksarmy.com/forum/Mike Huckabee and the Issues which can explain a lot more than I can.
VFT on September 26, 2009 at 2:56 PM
‘Sarah is the one the Dems hate………..that’s good enough for me and it will be a badge of honor for her as Americans continue to sicken of the Nazi, Marxist scum bag we now have……….
Cinday Blackburn on September 25, 2009 at 8:23 PM
She’s also the one independents don’t like. That’s the problem.
rjl1999 on September 26, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Right now I can’t think of any potential GOP candidate that those “independents” would go gaga over other than Romney; and the independent vote is just about all Romney would get. Not a winning strategy. After all, McCain was touted as the candidate most likely to draw in those moderates and independents last time around.
ddrintn on September 26, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Palin with her 55% unfavorability is certainty going to reel in those independents that know of her and don’t like her.
The GOP is better off with a Pawlenty type who can chip away the independents as a true outsider than with someone who is already despised by over half of the country.
Dickie Dunn on September 26, 2009 at 6:54 PM
Do they despise Palin, or the caricature which thus far is just about all that’s been out there?
Anyway, Pawlenty. Good guy, I like him, but puhleez. I want to see you guys try again to win without the base. Brilliant.
ddrintn on September 26, 2009 at 8:26 PM
Romneycare.
alliebobbitt on September 26, 2009 at 8:42 PM
RE: Sarah Palin and “quitting.”
First, remember that in the past, the path from sitting Governor to President was a well-established path. No one minded if a governor, (whether new in the job or not,) ran in the primaries, and then again in the general election. Sarah Palin’s political opponents changed this pattern, with their relentless trumped-up ethics charges against her. Each time she attempted to enter the national conversation, they pounced, leaving her having to expend both effort and money to defend against these baseless charges. So, for her, there would not be a smooth path from where she was to the Presidency.
Now, she could have finished her term. She could, in theory, then enter the race. But, she would have been handicapped in two ways; other candidates, unburdened with the inability to make an appearance without being charged with an ethics violation, would necessarily have something of a head start. And, lacking what might be called full access to the national microphone, the remainder of the news about her would have been the very kind of attacks we’ve seen to date. In sum, the only thing she would have been able to do, that would have any kind of national resonance, would have been to defend, and defend, and defend.
This resignation, should she decide to put her hat into the ring, frees her from these limitations. And, don’t discount the shrewdness of her stated reason. While some have said that her premise (that of putting Alaska first) will haunt her in the up-coming primary fights and debates, consider this; she will not have to change her answer as time goes on, it’s a simple response, and she’ll have lots of chances to repeat it in the months to come. As the primaries approach, it will take on the appearance of a fully settled issue.
Governor Palin has already proven to be an energetic speaker, a formidable fundraiser, and possessing considerable political skills.
This decision lets her concentrate on her strengths, build those areas that some perceive as weaknesses, and focus fully on whatever political path she decides is in her future. Those who dismiss her ignore her past history and her capabilities.
massrighty on September 26, 2009 at 8:45 PM
By the way, I wrote the above post the day Sarah Palin resigned.
Given what has transpired since, it looks pretty good so far…
massrighty on September 26, 2009 at 8:48 PM
McCain would have tapped him for veep, if they weren’t so much alike. Also, any candidate who can’t put their own state in the red column during an election is just not cut out for a presidential run. After the Franken debacle, Pawlenty ought to be out of the running. Same with Crist. No Romney or Jeb Bush.
It’s Jindal or Palin. Palin has the advantage, because she is the polar opposite of Obama and he will be a weak incumbent in 2012. She might get enough conservatives fired up enough to go vote for her as a great big middle finger to the Democrats.
alliebobbitt on September 26, 2009 at 8:48 PM
I was furious with her for quitting, but I think she’s redeeming herself so far. The CLSA speech, the op-eds, her Facebook campaign are all innovative use of new media, and honestly, I don’t think any Republicans can come close to the impact she has had on the healthcare and cap-and-trade debates. If she keeps this up, she may be able to bury the quitter stigma.
After all, did anyone during the campaign refer to her as a Governor? No, they kept referring to her as the mayor of Wasilla. She had no help from the RNC with the ethics charges. She got knifed in the back by McCain staffers. Also-rans who were positioning themselves for a 2012 run and wo famously kneecap their opponents early in a primary likely made some nasty comments anonymously to the press. Palin can keep a low profile now, fundraise and pay off her legal bills. It could be seen as a smart move.
alliebobbitt on September 26, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Independents would supposedly go for McCain. Seriously, you can’t run worrying about swing voters and independents. They vote for the cool candidate, and Republicans have no one except Sarah Palin.
Obama won with the youth vote, an uptick in minority voters, ACORN and a depressed Republican base. He will not motivate anyone but his own progressive hardcore leftwing base. If Palin can get enough conservatives to come out for her, which she can easily do, she has a good shot at winning.
alliebobbitt on September 26, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Wow – are you that deluded to think that the ‘I can see Russia’ was made up by the media? Wow. No reasoning with you. I guess you also must think Obama was born in Kenay, no matter what evidence you see.
massrighty – way to be shortsighted. The world doesn’t end in 2012. If she did complete the term she ran for – she could easily run for 2016 or 2020. It isn’t as if she is old like McCain.
A Axe on September 26, 2009 at 11:27 PM
The Narrative continues: Anybody But Palin 2012
Mr. Wednesday Night on September 26, 2009 at 11:55 PM
It was made up by SNL writers. You want the exact quote? Here it is:
“They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.”
And she was right. Get it? Idiot.
ddrintn on September 27, 2009 at 12:57 AM
A Axe: proof that the propaganda slime machine works.
Fixed that for you.
The Democrats found a legal loophole to attempt to destroy her personally: all “ethics complaints” against elected officials in the State of Alaska, no matter how (apparently) frivolous, must be investigated. The taxpayers of Alaska do not pay for any expenses incurred by said elected officials in their defense against these complaints. Sarah Palin was going broke (she already had $500,000 in legal debts defending herself against more than 20 complaints – all of which were eventually dismissed as unfounded or frivolous, including one that claimed that contributions to her legal defense fund amounted to “illegal gifts”) and was prevented by this constant legal harassment from performing her duties as Governor. She was hardly a “quitter”; she did what she had to do for the sake of the people of Alaska.
Mind you, I am not much of a fan of hers and I think her “folksy” speech and mannerisms are a bit strained and superficial.
Spiny Norman on September 27, 2009 at 2:02 PM
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