Sarah Palin's Popularity Slips to 60 Percent Disapproval Rate in Poll03/11/11
Sarah Palin, perhaps the most closely watched of all potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, is viewed in an unfavorable light by 60 percent of those questioned in a new Bloomberg News poll.
Palin's numbers suggest she would face a challenge in attracting voters beyond her conservative base if she decides to run for president next year. Bloomberg's survey of 1,001 adults was taken between March 4-7 by the Iowa firm, Selzer & Co. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Within the 60 percent who disapproved of Palin, 38 percent said they had "very unfavorable" feelings about her. She was viewed favorably by 28 percent, with only 4 percent not sure how they felt. A December Bloomberg poll had Palin's unfavorable rating at 57 percent.
But the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee isn't holding back. On Thursday night, Palin told Fox News she thought union bosses were "acting like thugs" in their fight against a bill in Wisconsin taking away public employees' collective bargaining rights. Labor leaders should "turn down the rhetoric and start getting truth out there so nobody gets hurt," she said.
There was good news for President Obama in the Bloomberg poll: 45 percent said he had a "better vision" for the nation's economic future than the Republican opposition. One-third (33 percent) of the sample preferred the GOP approach, and 22 percent didn't like either or weren't sure.
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