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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snowshoe who wrote (80989)	8/30/2008 9:32:09 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542788

They could. Quite an executive decision. Easy come, easy go. Planning about as thorough as the planning that went into the Iraq war.

To: Snowshoe who wrote (80989)	8/30/2008 9:49:09 PM
From: Sam	Respond to of 542788

The Popularity of Sarah Palin . . . by MRL Sat Aug 30, 2008 at 07:12:58 AM PDT [EDIT: We need to recall that at one time George Bush had a popularity rating of over 80%. Give me a steady 55-60%--any more than that is bound to be punctured.] My old boss used to say that a case (I was a civil rights lawyer at the time) is never as good as the first time it walks through your door. What she meant was that when that person described their discrimination to you in the first meeting, it was inspriring to you and you wanted to go after the employer immediately. Often -- too often -- you later came to discover facts and nuances about your client and their story that made the case less attractive, more difficult to pursue. Nevertheless, still often worth pursuing. The point? Sarah Palin just walked into our proverbial offices and her case on many levels was pretty good. 80-90 approval ratings! Good God! Not since George W Bush . . . If Sarah Palin continues to be the story (as opposed to John McCain's judgment, integrity, or patriotism, or lack thereof is not the story) I think that the shine will quickly be coming off of Palin under national media scrutiny. More below the fold: The "80 per cent approval" is getting a lot of play. Impressive. But what is ignored is this (http://newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/03/polls-show-young-stevens-campaigns-affected-indict/ ): Meanwhile, this week’s Rasmussen poll found 64 percent of voters rate Palin’s job performance as excellent or good versus only 14 percent who view it as poor. Palin is seen as more ethical than most politicians by 51 percent of Alaska voters. And this observation from Alaska Journalist, Gregg Erickson (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/08/29/DI2008082902052.html ): Gregg Erickson: I think she did a great job in taking on the oil industry, that has had a lock on Alaska politics since 1981 She is also stood up against the corruption in Alaska politics long before it was fashionable to do so. . I think those things resonate with many Alaskans beside myself. Her approval ratings are high--65 percent, or so--but down from 80 percent earlier in her term. Most Alaskan's haven't watched her as closely as most reporters or legislators. If you took a poll of reporters and legislators I expect her approval rating would be down in the teens or twenties. Seems like when folks pay attention -- and they ARE about to pay more attention to her than ever, the fawning stops. What America DIDN'T hear yesterday from Sarah Palin was: She thinks Creationism ought to be taught alongside Evolution. She thinks raped women should not be able to abort the product of the rape. She thinks that ANWR ought to be drilled. She's being investigated for the "troopergate" connected to her ex-brother-in-law. She was a staunch Pat Buchanan supporter in his prior presidential runs. There are, no doubt, countless other things that surface, including incredibly close scrutiny of her actual record as Mayor of Wasilla (combing the records of a town of 6500 should take too long) and as Governor of Alaska. Shorter version: when you win an election by 51% of the vote or so, its unlikely you can maintain an approval rating of 80% for very long -- as W aptly showed. Expect the questions about Palin and the scrutiny of her record to continue in the insuing weeks. Sure, McSame stole some thunder from Barack on the Friday news cycle, but recall that it was a Friday before a holiday weekend news cycle -- when we would typically accuse W for dumping BAD news on the media b/c few paid attention. As much as this was a "steal the thunder" announcement, it could easily be seen as a "burying bad news" announcement also. dailykos.com