No, really.
This graph, swiped from Yglesias, shows Sarah Palin's Palin's net favorability ratings, 11-17 September 2008. Click to zoom.
To be sure, these are data from one firm's daily tracking poll, and that firm, Research 2000, is being paid by the Great Orange Satan. However, as tremayne at OpenLeft points out, the same trend has been observed by another firm, Diageo/Hotline, even if the absolute numbers differ. Nate Silver has details.
[Added] More from Nate on this:
McCain's other problem is that Sarah Palin may no longer be an asset to the ticket; in fact, she may be a liability. Averaging the candidates' favorability scores across four recent polls -- as one should always try and do when looking at favorability numbers since they can vary greatly depending on question wording -- Palin now has the worst net scores among the four principals in the race:
[table of data]
Palin's average favorability score is now a +7 -- about 10 points behind Joe Biden's numbers. Perhaps more importantly, these numbers are 10-15 points behind where Palin's numbers were just a week or so ago. If voters come in not knowing very much about a candidate -- and the more they see of the candidate, the less they like of the candidate -- this is a major concern.
Here's a graph of the four candidates' net favorability ratings (pic. source), built from the same dKos/R2000 data:
6 comments:
Finally common sense is starting to show in the polls...
Those are two of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen.
The decline is absolutely stunning. 20 points for Palin! In the space of just one week! That's a drastic reversal of fortune.
I wish there was some way of determining exactly which factors led to this change in public perception. I'm guessing the Gibson interview was the single most important factor.
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LOL: I have the rebroadcast of Maddow on. She just scrolled a long list of the names of Republican talking heads who have refused to appear on her show. Great tactic. Not only does this immunize her against the wingnut accusation that she won't let dissenters on her show, it also highlights the cowardice of those talking heads. Honestly, Maddow is so good I'm not surprised they don't want to go anywhere near her.
Off topic, but holy fuck:
Blind squirrel finds nut?
I don't believe in conspiracy theories. I only believe what can be proven to be true. But that doesn't mean a person can't wonder. And I will admit that I've strongly suspected the possibility that Palin's email wasn't really hacked, but that the whole thing was faked by the McCain campaign to change the narrative and emphasize Palin's important role in this campaign as victim.
If you think about it -- and quite apart from this particular story and whether it is true or false -- McCain picked Palin for the most cynical of reasons: to act as a magnet for sexist attacks that would allow McCain to attract the votes of the women who might be aggravated by attacks on her. If we accept that was at least part of her appeal to the McCain campaign, it's a short logical step to conclude that they would have faked the hacked email to generate sympathetic coverage.
^Please note: I am not asserting that the email wasn't really hacked. I am just speculating. An assertion would require proof, which we'll never have, unless of course the Secret Service finds the hacker.
Wouldn't it be beautiful if the Secret Service DID find the hacker ... in the McCain camp? My friends, that's the kind of breaking news I can believe in.
Update on Palin's hacked email.
Looks like my radical leftist conspiracy theory may not be true. ;-)
Incidentally, it's also worth noting that the worrywarts/concern trolls (e.g., McMegan) who insisted that Palin be ignored and not attacked were .... wrong.
Though Bully Boy Scarborough was claiming this morning that the change in polls only occurred after (and because) Democrats stopped talking about Palin, I think that's highly dubious. Seems to me that focusing on Palin worked fine.
Keeping fingers crossed until November 5. You know the McCain camp has at least a few more tricks up its sleeves.
I think you're right that it was paying attention to Palin that helped knock her favorables down, Twin. Those who cautioned against attacking her family were probably right, if stating the obvious.
Ocean: You think it's common sense? In Palin's case, I think it's more that people who aren't political junkies finally got a little bit of information to work with.
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