Thursday, May 7, 2009

Palin Plummets in Tailspin Toward House of Cards


cross-posted at Oxdown Gazette

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was the most popular politician in the USA a year ago, is now far less popular in Alaska
than US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose father Palin beat to become governor. Her positive rating is now at 54%, and her "very negative" rating is up from 3% a year ago, to 25%.

A new Hayes Research Group poll
was published early Wednesday. On May 7th, 2008, just less than a year ago, Palin's popularity stood at 86% positive. It is now down to 54% pro-Palin. This 32% drop isn't as startling as her rise in unfavorables, though. The May 7th 2008 poll put all her unfavorables at 8%. This week, they stand at 41.6%. They have increased more than five-fold in a year when our governor was on a national ticket. How often does that happen?

I predicted this mid-50s poll
a few weeks ago.

She just finished what is widely regarded as an awful job overseeing her own agenda during one of the most unproductive legislative sessions in Alaska history.


In the depths of this last winter, as a food and fuel crisis in rural Alaska emerged in towns where most of the residents are Alaska Natives, she chose a flamboyantly anti-Native Anchorage attorney Wayne Anthony Ross, to succeed disgraced former AG Talis Colberg.
Ross was soundly defeated in the joint legislative session confirmation vote, This, in a legislature controlled by Palin's own party.

It was the first rejection of a gubernatorial cabinet nomination by the legislature in Alaska history.


Palin's current refusal to take more than $30,000,000.00 in Federal stimulus money to help make dwellings more energy efficient is seen here as over-the-top. Alaskans are more libertarian than most states, but no politician here gains local popularity by turning down Federal money. Federal money is a keystone to our economy.


While Palin is posturing, Alaska's two senators, Lisa Murkowski (R) and freshman Mark Begich (D) are sending press releases out daily on new
Corps of Engineers, National Park, Veterans Administration, U.S. Public Health Service and other agencies' projects, being funded by stimulus money or through new efforts by the senators.

The conventional wisdom here now is that Palin has already decided not to run for governor in 2010. Nobody from either party is lining up to run against Sen. Murkowski, who is up for reelection next year. Palin is plummeting fast enough to face a possible primary loss to Don Young, who narrowly beat Palin's Lieutenant Governor in a 2008 primary challenge.

The number of national level Republicans still backing Palin as the great white hope for 2012 is diminishing. If she were better managed, she might have a future in becoming an aging Barbie version of Ron Paul. As it is, though, and with
Levi Johnston - now with a part-time bodyguard - threatening to blow on the house of cards for the right price, Palin is way beyond shelf date expiration.

Unfortunately, though, her advisors from
SarahPac, particularly Meghan Stapleton, make one move after another that forces Palin further and further into the far right corner.

She'd probably do better at this point with Tonya Harding running her publicity machine.

image - AKM

10 comments:

Bones AK said...

Right on!

I absolutly love the Tanya Harding comment - GREAT!

Anon for fear of retaliation said...

It's about fuckin' time! I was starting to think my state was full of ignorant, uninformed idiots.

Anonymous said...

"She'd probably do better at this point with Tonya Harding running her publicity machine."

True. But she picks her staff, so regardless, the words and acts of her or her staff, it belongs to her.

She went rogue on the McCain staff and casued him a lot of damage and did not learn from that experience.

In a word, Sarah's worst enemy is Sarah.

sauerkraut said...

Better management cannot cure what ails Sarah Palin. The best she can hope for is for Tonya Harding to hire someone to bust her kneecaps... but we've already seen that video.

Extra points this morning for excellent use of the Tonya Harding reference, however.

midnightcajun said...

I'm not sure why everyone keeps blaming Sarah Palin's advisors. From what we heard coming out of the presidential campaign, NO ONE tells Sarah what to do. So much of this idiocy has her fingerprints all over it--the angry, crazy press releases, the public brawl with her grandson's 18-yr-old father, the snarling responses to citizens' complaints. So why keep blaming the advisors? Put the blame squarely where it belongs, on Palin herself (who chooses her advisors anyway).

Anonymous said...

Sarah Palin is the new face of mental illness in public office.

Nothing Palin does makes any logical or rational sense.

Anonymous said...

Tank is his body guard ?

Where in the Larry King transcript does it say that ?

It doesn't.

Nowhere in that interview does it say that Tank is working as a body guard.

You can do better than that.

basheert said...

Actually, there have been a lot of stories that indicate Tank IS acting as a bodyguard/friend to Levi including a statement from Levi himself.
He needs a bodyguard /anyone who has to deal with SP probably requires a safety net.

Philip Munger said...

anon @ 7:21 am - fixed the link and reference in the article. There's no indication Jones is Levi's full time body guard, but he is providing Johnston part time security. among other services.

Anonymous said...

Ron Paul comparison is bad. He can articulate opinions and observations on numerous complex policies. SP needs syntax 101 classes