Alaska Politics Blog : Poll: 40 % of Republicans say Palin hurt her chance to be president

Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics, state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has rarely been more interesting -- a full slate of federal and state elections, the influence of former Gov. Sarah Palin, the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. We encourage lively debate, but please keep it civil and stay on point. Don't use profanity, make crude comments or attack other posters. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose their ability to post comments.

Contributors

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

Features

SECTION

Alaska political corruption

When the FBI raided state legislature offices in Aug. 2006, it publicly launched an investigation that ultimately reached the highest levels of Alaska politics, and continues to this day.

Poll: 40 % of Republicans say Palin hurt her chance to be president

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: July 7, 2009 - 2:31 pm

Photo by Diana DeStafeno/ADN reader submission
Sarah Palin talks with Miss Arctic Circle after signing the VPSO bill today in Kotzebue. Check the Daily News Village blog for more photos of Palin's visit.

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

Forty percent of Republican voters nationwide say Gov. Sarah Palin hurt her chances of winning the party’s nomination for president in 2012 by resigning as governor, according to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports.

The national polling firm conducted a telephone survey of likely GOP voters after Palin’s surprise announcement that she’s leaving the job. Only 24 percent said quitting helps her chances. Another 28 percent said it doesn't matter either way.

What else did pollsters find?

Palin remains a polarizing figure, even for Republicans. Those polled listed Palin among their top two choices for Republican presidential candidates in 2012. The survey asked who people would vote for in their state's primary. Palin finished just behind Mitt Romney and ahead of Mike Huckabee on GOP wish lists.

But in the same poll, Palin ranked among the two candidates they’d least like to see head the Republican ticket. She tied with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who is still an unknown to many Republican voters around the country.

Palin’s decision to resign played better with conservative Republicans than moderates, the poll says: GOP voters who are Evangelical Christians are fairly evenly divided but a narrow plurality say Palin’s resignation helps her political chances more than hurts them. But the plurality of other Protestants (41%) and Catholics (46%) disagree, seeing the governor’s move as hurtful politically.

Other findings:

-- 61 percent of those polled say it’s at least “somewhat likely” Palin will run for president.

-- 76 percent of Republican voters still had a favorable opinion of Palin, even after her resignation announcement. (78 percent have a favorable opinion of Huckabee.)

The July 6 poll was a telephone survey of 750 likely Republican voters. Margin of error: Plus or minus 4 percentage points. No, it has nothing to do with the Rasmuson Foundation.