Dude, I think it was the Fiorina endorsement. Alaska hates RINOs!

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds that just 41% say they would vote for the former Alaska governor if she ran for president in 2012. Forty-eight percent (48%) say they would not vote for Palin, and 11% more are undecided.

Alaska voters are almost evenly divided in their views of Palin. Forty-nine percent (49%) view her at least somewhat favorably, while 50% share an unfavorable opinion of her. This includes 31% who regard her Very Favorably and 37% with a Very Unfavorable view.

Perhaps this can be explained in part by the feeling that the ex-governor who became Republican John McCain’s surprise running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign is bad for Alaska’s image. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say Palin’s views and activities reflect positively on Alaska’s image, but 45% think they reflect negatively on the state. Twelve percent (12%) say they have no impact.

She’ll bounce back a bit after that Alaska nature series finally launches, but … 49/50 at home? An interesting footnote here: Last July, shortly after she quit as governor, Hays Research found her favorable rating at 47/48, which the Palinistas at C4P duly challenged as unreliable. Ten months later, star righty pollster Scott Rasmussen has practically the same figures. What’s it all about, Alfie? Lingering resentment that she quit halfway through her term? A touch of class disgruntlement, perhaps, that their down-to-earth blue-collar political upstart is now a rich media celebrity? Maybe some class resentment the other way, i.e. they’re tired of being thought of as yokels by association per the media’s caricature of Sarahcuda? Or is this an entirely predictable result given that Palin’s become a more doctrinaire conservative since she first came on the scene locally, with the polarization among Alaska righties and lefties the obvious outcome? Considering how she polls nationally, Alaska’s number are actually a bit better than the average.

In other news, the new book’s set to drop on November 23. The theme, naturally, is American values. Exit question: With Sarahcuda having kneecapped herself among the base via the Fiorina endorsement, who’ll inherit the “true conservative” mantle now? You don’t suppose…

Update: C4P e-mails with strange new respect for Hays: According to their January poll, she’s at 53/43.