These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
40% of GOP Voters Say Resignation Hurts Palin's Chances in 2012
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Forty percent (40%) of Republican voters nationwide say Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska hurts her chances of winning the party's presidential nomination in 2012.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of GOP voters finds that (24%) believe Palin's resignation helps her chances of winning the Republican nomination, while 28% say it will have no impact on the race.
But that doesn't mean Palin isn't near the very top of the list when Republicans are asked what they think of her and whom they'd vote for in 2012 - as new data set for release at noon EDT today will show
After all, 61% of GOP voters say it is at least somewhat likely that Palin will run for president in 2012, including 23% who say she is very likely to do so.
Just 29% think Palin is unlikely to run for the White House , with 25% who say it's not very likely and only four percent (4%) who say it's not at all likely.
Palin stunned the political world when she announced on Friday that she will step down as governor at the end of this month because she did not intend to seek reelection and didn't think Alaskans would be best served by having her in a lame duck capacity. Since John McCain elevated the popular first-term Alaska governor to the national stage by choosing her as his running mate last year, the photogenic and unabashedly conservative Palin has been considered a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
A darling of conservative Republicans, she's been the subject of relentless and generally hostile media coverage, with even her children targeted by her critics. CBS Late Night host David Letterman recently was forced by public protest to apology for a crude joke he made about Palin's teenage daughter, and 64% of Americans agree that it's inappropriate for comedians like Letterman to joke about the children of public figures .
Conservative Republicans are the least fazed by Palin's decision to resign. Just 37% think she's hurt her chances of winning the nomination, compared to 52% of moderate Republicans.
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.
In general, the higher a Republican voter's income level and educational achievement, the more likely he or she is to think Palin's decision to resign will hurt her bid for the GOP nomination.
In January, assessing the beating Republicans took in November, the plurality of GOP voters (43%) said their party has been too moderate over the past eight years, and 55% said it should become more like Palin in the future. But nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) said the Republican Party has been too conservative, and a plurality (42%) suggested it look to McCain for the future.
Even just before Election Day, Republicans were happier with Palin than with McCain, the party's presidential nominee .
# # #
To view the original report, please use this link: Will Palin Be Our Next President?