Worth posting if only to lay down a marker about where her favorables were before the book was released. At 40/50, there’s nowhere to go but up. Hopefully.

Palin became a bit of a sensation after John McCain tapped her as his running mate last August. But over the course of the campaign, her image suffered, going from a 53% favorable rating immediately after the 2008 Republican National Convention to 42% by the end of the campaign.

Palin’s ratings have not recovered, and her current 40% favorable rating is the lowest for her since she became widely known after last year’s Republican convention…

Palin could compete for the 2012 nomination because she is still widely liked by Republicans — 69% have a favorable opinion of her while only 25% view her unfavorably. But she may have difficulty succeeding in the general election, given that Democrats have overwhelmingly negative opinions of her, and independents view her more negatively than positively.

They offer no explanation for the slide but it’s not a mystery. Follow the link and see for yourself when the divergence between her favorable and unfavorable numbers started to grow. Anything important happen this past July? It’s not just Gallup either. If you scan Pollster.com’s poll of polls on her net favorables dating back to last year, you’ll find that she was pretty near even as recently as … mid-July, when suddenly the slide begins. In fact, Gallup’s numbers today are actually an improvement for her: The last three polls taken showed her approval in the 30s and her disapproval in the mid-50s. Proof positive, I guess, that her resignation has resonance with voters and will be a major issue in the primaries if she runs. I’ll bet Huck’s gaming out the “America can’t afford a quitter” ads as we speak.