A new
Rasmussen poll released Monday showing President Obama tied with Mitt Romney and six points up on Sarah Palin in a hypothetical 2012 match up is already the buzz of the blogs.
Groups of political animals with different interests will be posturing all week long based on this poll. Romney backers, for example, will be crowing loudly over it, and we don't want to rain on their parade. After all, their guy made a good showing, and they should have some fun with it. While we don't think this merits a ticker tape parade, if they are looking for an excuse to party, this should qualify.
Sarah Palin's backers can also find some encouragement in the latest Rasmussen numbers. Being just six points back of the president is nothing to sneeze at, especially after
another poll -- one conducted by Democrat polling firm Public Policy Polling in mid-March -- showed Obama with a 20-point lead over Palin in the same hypothetical circumstances. If one were to say the PPP poll is as accurate as the Rasmussen survey (which Democrats always do; Republicans will argue the point in Scott Rasmussen's favor), then Governor Palin has made a 14-point improvement against Obama in just four months. An
April PPP poll had Obama ahead of Palin 53 percent to 41 percent -- a twelve-point spread. Today's Rasmussen results indicate that Gov. Palin has cut that lead in half in less than three months. But the 2012 elections are still years away, and Sarah Palin has not even started to campaign actively for 2012, if indeed she intends to do so.
The only group which will find nothing to help them put a positive spin on Monday's poll news is the collective of Obama fans. These results tend to support other Rasmussen
polling which shows the president at his lowest approval rating since taking the oath of office in January. This is what Obama's supporters have feared the most. This is why they and their media hounds have been ruthlessly attacking Sarah Palin 24/7 since the day John McCain introduced her to the nation last August. The attacks continued even after the election was over and done with, and -- if anything -- they have actually increased since she announced on July 3 that she intended to resign her office before the end of the month.
The attacks on Sarah Palin will continue. But look for Mitt Romney, who thus far has managed to make himself a very small target to the Obama forces, to start taking more of his share of the heat. Alas, that's one of the "joys" of being a front runner in the wonderful world of American politics.
Indeed the Rasmussen Poll is an enjoyable coffee break. But all coffee breaks come to an end, and people have to get back to work. If the mission is to take back the House and reclaim as many Senate seats and governorships as possible in 2010, then the crucial battle is health care. Regardless of what you think of Dick Morris, we believe he was pretty close to the target when he said last month that
health care could be Obo's Waterloo. In the words of Patrick Stewart's celluloid character, let's "
make it so."
Update 1 : PPP is out with
poll results of its own. PPP finds Obama leading Gov. Palin in that hypothetical 2012 match by eight points and Mitt Romney by nine:
"The numbers from this poll also seem to indicate that Sarah Palin did not do herself any immediate damage with her decision to resign as Governor of Alaska. Her favorability spread of 47/45 is the best PPP has found it over the course of six surveys conducted in the last four months. Also, her eight point deficit against Obama is the first time it's been in single digits over the course of these monthly 2012 polls. She also continues to have easily the highest percentage of GOP voters holding a positive opinion of her."
Also, an ABC News/Washington Post
poll released Moday shows an increasing number of Americans view Obama as an old style, tax and spend Democrat.
Update 2: Our way of saying thanks for the shout out is a tip of the Texas Stetson to
Tom in Alaska.
- JP
