Palin’s Popularity Among Alaskans Continues to Fall

Palin’s Popularity Among Alaskans Continues to Fall
October 7, 2008 - Blogs WSJ.com
Jim Carlton reports on the presidential race.

Sarah Palin remains a big draw on the campaign trail, but the Alaska governor’s popularity back home continues to drop since she joined the Republican ticket as John McCain’s running mate.

Palin’s positive rating dropped to 65% as of Monday from 68% on Sept. 22, according to a survey of likely Alaska voters by Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore. On Sept. 2, her positive rating was a stratospheric 82%, according to Moore’s poll then. The governor’s negative rating in Alaska, meanwhile, has shot up to 30% — the highest since she took office in 2005, according to Moore. On Sept. 2, it was just 13%.

Moore said a big reason Palin’s popularity has taken a hit is that she has taken on partisan attacks against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden. Many Democratic Alaskans who once supported her have been turned off by the attacks, he said.

Other factors that could be at play: The governor’s role in Troopergate, the scandal involving her alleged attempts to get a former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper. Many Alaskans have also groused about the presence of many McCain operatives in Alaska since she was named to the ticket.

It’s not all bad news for Palin: The Moore poll still shows the McCain-Palin ticket trouncing Obama-Biden, by 55% to 38%. Before she was named to the ticket, Alaska was in contention. “Alaska is still a strong McCain,” Moore said.

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Palin’s Popularity Among Alaskans Continues to Fall