Palin Actually Not That Popular In NY-23

Sarah Palin may have managed to drastically alter the course of upstate New York's special congressional election with a comment on her Facebook page. But despite catapulting the Conservative Party's Doug Hoffman to a likely victory in Tuesday's election, the former Alaska Governor is, herself, relatively unpopular in the state's 23rd district.

According to Public Policy Polling, 44 percent of voters in NY-23 said they had a negative view of the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. That's one percentage point higher than those who viewed her favorably. Isolating just Republicans in the district, the numbers are better, but not overwhelmingly so. Fifty-three percent of Republican voters said they had a positive view of Palin while 32 percent said their view was negative.

The conventional wisdom was that Palin's endorsement of Hoffman gave his candidacy a tremendous boost forward -- so much so that the Republican Party's Dede Scozzafava was forced to drop her bid just days before voters went to the polls. But perhaps the power of that specific endorsement was a bit overstated.

More important, however, is what these numbers portend for future elections. NY-23 is a decidedly Republican district, with the GOP enjoying a 14-percentage point advantage in voter ID, according to Public Policy Polling. That Palin is just breaking even in one of the "reddest" areas of the northeast shows the current limitations of her political reach.

As PPP concludes: "She could overcome those kinds of numbers in a contest to get the Republican nomination but they certainly wouldn't be good enough in a general election. The North Country should be friendly ground for her and if she can't make it there it's hard to see how she can make it anywhere."

Comments

[mitsie]

I grew up and still have relatives and friends in NY 23. Palin is not well liked and it's because people feel she is untruthful and can't be trusted. They also feel she is not qualified to be President. The people there have been there all their lives. Watertown depends on Fort Drum for it's sole income. There are no businesses there and the largest city Syracuse is 79 miles away. It use to be that this was a dairy farming center, but dairy farms haven't been able to survive the economic downturn and most lay unoccupied and rotting. It is sad to see our family farm go that way. People there help their neighbors and believe in family get togethers and friends. They all tend to be religeous people who believe in hard work. My family was Republican and my dad was a Justice of the Peace for years. When I became 18 I did run for selectman and was elected.

I did discuss Palin with my friends and relatives there. I was told she could never carry this district and she did hurt the Repubicans by endorsing Hoffman. They said that the Rep. candidate would have been elected if the election had occurred as planned. People are turned off by Palin's saying certain areas of the country are more patriotic then others, and that she is going to share "Sarah's values."

[Dianethegardener]

I think the only way you can say that palin might have helped this election was that she rallied all that outside money that poured in for Hoffman.
I got a call from the republicans last week and the very first question was about how I felt about palin.
Which I thought was very very odd.

I for one can not one bit what she thinks. She is a liar, a quitter and not bright at all.
She lied about resigning(what has she done for the people of Alakska since she has resigned>
Nothing. And she was their public servant, elected by them!

[brt929]

Peter007 posted: These elections are all about energizing the political base. Issues are usually not a major factor. Corzine could not get the democrats to come out to vote and Obama couldn't either. Christie got the Republicans or Independents to get out the door?
Why was that?
*******

Keep spinning Peter!

Corzine had a dreadful record. The state government shut down 3 or 4 months after he took office. He had a controversy over the toll roads. He had a controversy over a girlfriend that sued him. My guess is not that Republicans and Independents showed up, is that Democrats stayed home.

The only way that Republicans could say that they are on the way up is if there had been some Republican governorships up for re-election and they had managed to retain them. Since there weren't any, there is no evidence that Republicans are rallying.

Further, many people don't bother to vote in these odd-year elections.

You Rethugs- you got nothing. Where it counted- the two Congressional seats- they went Democratic.

Next year's election will be telling.

[ebbtide]

Palin = boop oop de doop candidate. Buy the book "she wrote" LOL

[Matt7]

"The conventional wisdom was that Palin's endorsement of Hoffman gave his candidacy a tremendous boost forward -- so much so that the Republican Party's Dede Scozzafava was forced to drop her bid just days before voters went to the polls. But perhaps the power of that specific endorsement was a bit overstated."
__________­__________­_

Ah! . . . Revisionist back-peddling. I like it!

[Wide Stance]

How exactly is it either backpeddling or revisionism?

[massvoter53]

Can we get beyond Palin running for nationwide office. It's not going to happen. that being said, I think she's fascinating to watch because her background is so different from other pols. I can understand why people disagree with her values, but don't follow why people dispise her so vehemently. She's very entertaining.

[NJmikeV]

Maybe it's because she's a theocrat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM

[massvoter53]

It's about as scary as Reverend Wright.

[NJmikeV]

It would appear that that winking dolt may be an asset to the Dems.

[NJmikeV]

How's that rogue thing working out ?

[trinity]

Upstate NYers may not like "liberals" (as the Conservatives painted the Republican candidate as), but they hate wacky outsiders who come in and tell them who to vote for even more.

Heck, Hoffman didn't even live in the district let alone born and raised there like Bill Owens was.

[BlackLight]

New Yorkers h8 carpetbaggers for sure.

[brt929]

I don't know, they elected Robert Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. Neither were really New Yorkers.

[Peter007]

How did he get 45% of the vote when he didn't have a political machine or any major political party backing? 3rd parties rarely get more than 5% of the vote.

[Sarahmay57]

Pay attention. He had a large faction of the republican machine behind him the whole time. There was a split between those that chose Dede and the conservatives in the party.

[brt929]

95% of his money came from out of district sources.

I heard he had Palin doing robo-calls for him and I'm sure Dick Army, who funded the tea baggers and runs Freedom Works, gave him plenty.

No political machine? Let's not misrepresent the facts.

[clamperken]

After the hardcore right-wingers scared off the republican candidate, it was either vote for Hoffman or, god-forbid, vote for a democrat. They lost because they are still blindly following Failin' Palin down the road to failure.

[mcmutter]

For $100,000 Saint Sarah will make a speech and endorse you too !

[filo]

I think they will be paying her NOT to support them.

[Sarahmay57]

How much for a facebook mention?

[Matt7]

Saint? Sarah? Surely THAT'S a d@mnable phrase!

[mmaza]

Not since the Civil War has a Democrat had this seat. Thanks Sarah.

[Peter007]

Actually the Republican candidate was more of a Democrat than the Democratic candidate was. If the Republican candidate had won, she would have voted along the democratic platform. What Palin did was to knock out out the fake Republican. How are those blue dog democrats working out for you guys?

[Sarahmay57]

She was a typical moderate republican for this area. So there.

[brt929]

"If the Republican candidate had won, she would have voted along the democratic platform."

That is untrue. She clearly had a voting record of fiscal conservatism.

The real problem, why Hoffman inserted himself, was that she was backed by a teachers union and the Daily Kos.

These politicians that inserted themselves in a race that they knew nothing about, do not understand that "conservative" may mean something very different in a different part of the country.

All politics are local. Regions do vary according to the residents and their interests.

[zest]

The second American Civil War started 01/20/09.

[alisonv]

Wow, they're just not that into her after all.

[marko77]

Sarah Palin is an egotistical twit and the same goes for her pack of teabagging zombies.

[Willow207]

News Release:

Sarah Palins book, due out in 2 weeks, has dropped in price--for the fourth time--to a new all time low of $.99!

Hurry out and buy as many copeis as possible--then invite family ,friends and neighbors to a good old fashion book burning!!! Ha Ha!

Spare the nation--get rid of her book!


P.S.
For those who would like to call Palin and congratulate her on the campaign loss in "23", here is the telphone number for SarahPac: [phone].

Have fun and be creative in your condolensces to the Dumbest Woman in America!

[lordmi]

just wandering - if she read at least this book? (she got it for free, right?)

[Peter007]

How is your book doing?

[NJmikeV]

You can get the winking dolt's book for free if you subscribe to NewsMax.

[dimplesmile7]

Sarah has cost two people an election, John McCain and now Hoffman. Keep endorsing Sarah!

[Willow207]

Next stop, Flroida. She and Beck plan to turn out the "attack dogs" on Gov. Charlie Crist, who is extremely popular--even with some Democrats! Yes, prepare yourself for a night of good laughs watching those returns!

[zest]

Maybe she just doesn't want any other republicans to get elected because she lost.

[Peter007]

Before Palin, Hoffman was at 22%. After Palin he rose to 45%. Thats a double.

[NJmikeV]

And he still lost.

The GOP lost a seat it held for over 100 years because of the winking dolt's meddling.

Your point is ....?

[Ron333wood]

So ONLY 23% of those who still call themselves Republicans comprise the "uber-conservative" tea party GOP. With Sarah as the "poster girl" and Beck as the mascot they will wink and cry their way to the Destruction of the Grand Old Party. With a constituency of senior citizens...how can that bode well for the future?