Wednesday, August 4, 2010

As Palin Nation mob grows more transfixed, everyone else grows more disillusioned with her.

Greg Sargent, who writes the Washington Post's The Plum Line, has written about a new Pew Research poll that found more Americans than not consider a Sarah Palin endorsement of a Congressional candidate negatively. He then goes on to cite some other recent polls, which, he says, tell the larger story about a Palin presidential candidacy:

... Palin is a major draw among GOP primary voters. But the larger story here -- one that goes directly to the heart of her presidential aspirations -- is that she's successfully tightening her emotional grip on her devoted legions of supporters at the expense of just about everyone else. Far more see her as a turn-off than as a turn-on.

Palin supporters get very, very angry when you point this out. But the evidence is overwhelming at this point:

* A recent NBC/WSJ poll reached the same conclusion as today's Pew poll: It found that a majority of adults nationwide would look negatively on candidates endorsed by Palin.

* A recent Gallup poll noted a striking disconnect in public attitudes towards Palin: While her favorability rating is far higher among Republicans than that of all the other 2012 GOP contenders, she's also far and away the least liked of all the 2012 hopefuls among Americans overall.

* A recent poll of New Hampshire voters from the Dem firm Public Policy Polling found that 51 percent say they're less likely to back a Palin-endorsed candidate. Tellingly, among moderates that number jumped to 65 percent.

* Multiple other polls have found her negatives on the rise with the broader electorate.

This all supports what I've argued here before: That Palin is better off staying in her current role of celebrity quasi-candidate. This has allowed her to insulate herself from direct media cross-examination and to communicate directly to the Palin Nation mob, which is growing more transfixed. But the rest of the world continues to sour on her. It's hard to see how she'll succeed if she ever steps outside the bubble she's crafted for herself.

There's a tremendous amount of media discussion about whether Palin will run for president and about how much of a political "rock star" she has become. It's odd that the larger and arguably more important story about what she has wrought for herself never enters into the conversation.

It's interesting to read of things that make the Palin Nation mob angry. The relationship between Palin and her mob is like the relationship between a medieval queen and her knights. They feel as though Palin's honor has been besmirched whenever anyone says or writes anything about her with less than the fawning obsequiousness they believe she's entitled to. It is the negative reactions of the rest of us that fuel their ardor for their queen.

5 comments:

Joie Vouet said...

With stories like the on-again, off-again wedding of Bristol and Levi, the public may have finally become weary enough of all things Palin that it begins to ignore her. People are feeling like they've been played.

nswfm said...

I'm hopeful that not only has she jumped the shark, but also will be prosecuted for her crimes.

Sorry about that happily ever after shtick not working out for the Wasillabilly kids.

Hoo Haa said...

¨They feel as though Palin´s honor has been besmirched...¨

And they take it personally.

In the past, ¨Fox News Sunday¨ host Chris Wallace has railed, on the air, against ¨Fox and Friends¨ for what he called ¨Obama-bashing.¨ I don´t believe he cares for Sarah. He ended his segment with Sarah by asking her about her neighbor. And, like magic, the crazy lady goes right down the rabbit hole and blabbers about the imaginary feud she´s having with McGinness. Everyone, including Doonesbury, is in on the joke except for Sarah and her Bots.

Pretty clever.

Anonymous said...

Yep, she's insane and her followers are certifiable.

Anonymous said...

I don't see her as a Queen. I see her as a Propagandadist with brainwashed cult members. Some of their comments put them squarely in that category. How do these people believe her and keep saying she is not a liar? She was named "Liar of the Year" nationally and they still worship her words like she is Jesus Christ or maybe Jim Jones of the Guyana massacre.