Polls Show Sarah Palin Still Viable for 2012
Palin has drummed up a great deal of media attention on her nationwide book tour, which takes the former GOP vice presidential candidate to Iowa next month. A new poll out of the state -- a key state in presidential primaries -- shows that Republicans in the state highly approve of Palin.
As many as 68 percent of Iowa Republicans view Palin favorably, according to the Des Moines Register's Iowa poll. Palin ranked higher than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won 66 percent of Iowa Republicans' approval. She also beat out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is viewed favorably by 58 percent of the state's GOP voters.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, still has higher approval ratings than Palin at 70 percent, according to the poll. A comparison with Huckabee's numbers also reveal Palin's weaknesses. Twice as many Iowa Republicans hold an unfavorable view of Palin as they do of Huckabee. Meanwhile, moderates view Huckabee more than twice as favorably as Palin.
Photos: Sarah Palin's Book Tour
Fifty-five percent of all Iowa residents, including Democrats, hold an unfavorable opinion of Palin, according to the poll, while only 8 percent say they are unsure about her.
While it could appear that voters have already formed an opinion about the former governor, her book tour may be boosting her popularity. Palin's popularity numbers have edged up in national polls in recent months, to the point where they nearly equal to President Obama's, Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Malcolm acknowledges that Palin elicits strongly negative views from many voters.
"On the other hand," he writes, "35 months before the 2008 election, that Illinois senator was such a nobody that no one even thought to ask such a question about him. Things seem to change much more quickly these days."
It is too early to say who would prevail as the 2012 GOP presidential candidate, writes the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza. Still, he goes on to name Palin the Republican with the most influence in the party's direction.
"After last week, it's impossible to argue about Palin's influence in the party," Cillizza writes. "She can draw big crowds, sell books and command the biggest media stages... Whether they admit it or not, all establishment Republicans wonder about what Palin has planned for 2010 and 2012."
While Palin is perceived to represent the conservative core of the Republican party, a local GOP chairman noted after her recent visit to Roanoke, Va. that she drew many non-Republicans to her book signing.
"She brings out a different crowd," Salem Republican Party Chairman Greg Habeeb told the Roanoke Times. "She taps into something that the Republican Party really needs to tap into."
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