Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, who appears poised to run for the White House in 2012, is sliding in popularity even among members of her own Republican party, according to a new poll.
In a new CNN
/Opinion Research Corporation survey, 49 per cent of Republicans said that they were "very" or "somewhat likely" to support a run by Mrs Palin, who shot to international prominence in 2008 when she was selected as Senator John McCain's vice-presidential running mate.
This is down sharply from the 67 per cent of Republicans who said that they were likely to support a Palin candidacy in 2012 when they were asked in a CNN poll in December 2008.
Of her main potential rivals, two thirds of Republicans questioned stated that they were somewhat or very likely to support Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, while 59 per cent said the same of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
Surveys in battleground states carried by out by Public Policy Polling, which is affiliated to the Democratic party, also indicated Mrs Palin faces an uphill task. In Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, her overall popularity rating was below 40 per cent.
Republican strategists, however, state that the fervour of Mrs Palin's core supporters, her ability to garner news coverage and her populist appeal would make her a formidable candidate despite what pollsters term her "high negatives".
In another blow for Mrs Palin, Alaska has certified Senator Lisa Murkowski as the winner of the Alaska Senate contest. Mrs Palin has feuded with Mrs Murkowski since defeating her father Frank in the 2006 governor's race.
During the midterm elections campaign, Mrs Palin enthusiastically backed Joe Miller, the Tea Party candidate who defeated Mrs Murkowski in the Republican primary. Mrs Murkowski then ran as a "write-in" candidate in the general election and was certified as the winner with 101,091 votes compared to 90,839 for Mr Miller.
A PPP poll released this week showed that only 33 per cent of Alaskans have a favourable opinion of Mrs Palin, who resigned as the state's governor in 2009, and 58 per cent viewed her negatively. Only in the liberal bastion of Massachusetts, with 68 per cent, was she less popular
via:Telegraph UK
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