by Mark Silva
Republican Mitt Romney has rehabilitated a tattered image following the long campaign in which he sought his party's presidential nomination last year.
Republican Sarah Palin still suffers from a sharply divided opinion of her among the American public, following that same presidential campaign, in which she represented the GOP as the nominee for vice president - though the Alaska governor remains a rock star within her party, more popular among Republicans than the image-reviving former Massachusetts governor.
These are among the findings of a new Pew Research Center study on the favorability ratings for leading Republicans - no word from this survey, however, on where South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford might stand, but apparently the party's Southern star is in the United States today.
Romney's ratings have improved among the general public, with 40 percent rating him favorably, 28 percent unfavorably. This marks a reversal from February 2008, in the heat of the GOP campaign in which Romney was challenging Sen. John McCain of Arizona for the party's presidential nomination - then it was 44 percent unfavorable, 30 fave.
"Impressions of Sarah Palin have not changed much since the presidential campaign,'' Pew reports. The Alaskan "continues to be divisive figure among the general public, with about as many saying they have an unfavorable impression (44 percent) as a favorable view (45 percent) of the Alaska governor. That's a little better than Palin looked to the general public in October, when her image and her ticket were taking a beating.
But among Republicans: Palin has a 73 percent favorable rating, with just 17 percent viewing her dimly. Only 10 percent offered no opinion.
By contrast, Romney draws a 57 percent favorable rating within his party and 18 unfavorable - with 24 percent voicing no opinion.
And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia draws similar ratings, 55 percent favorable, 22 percent unfavorable, with the same number uncommitted.
Interestingly enough, 58 percent of Republicans surveyed were unable to offer any impression at all of the Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele.
(Republican Mitt Romney pictured above in a recent address to the Heritage Foundation,,Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta)
"Since February 2008, shortly before he abandoned his race for the GOP presidential nomination, opinion of Romney has improved across most political and demographic groups, but the shift has been particularly pronounced among independents,'' Pew reports. "In February 2008, just 29 percent of independents had a positive impression of Romney while 46 percent had a negative view. Today, that balance is reversed: 44 percent view Romney favorably and 25 percent unfavorably.''
And "almost a year after capturing the attention of the political world as John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin remains a broadly popular figure within the Republican Party, despite receiving mixed reviews from the public as a whole...
"Unlike Romney, Palin's ratings continue to be much better among conservative Republicans (80%) than among moderates and liberals in the party (62 percent). And while positive views of Palin have slipped among non-evangelical Republicans (from 77% to 67%), they remain overwhelmingly positive among white evangelical Republicans (84%, 85% last October).
"Notably, as was the case during the election, Palin is rated somewhat better by men than she is by women. About half of men (48%) say their overall opinion of Palin is favorable, while 40% say it is unfavorable. Among women, the picture is reversed: 48% offer an unfavorable view, 41% a favorable one. This difference largely arises from gender differences in party affiliation. For instance, among Republicans, men and women express similar views of Palin (73% favorable).
"Palin receives a more favorable rating from those with a high school degree or less (48% favorable, 36% unfavorable) than she does from college graduates (41% favorable, 52% unfavorable). Regionally, she is somewhat better regarded in the South (49% favorable) than she is in the Northeast (39% favorable).''
The Pew survey of 1,502 adults, conducted June 10-14, carries a possible 3 percentage point margin of error.
Comments
Mitt Romney is an opportunist and a practitioner of class warfare that would make Ted Kennedy proud.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/03/mitt_romney_is.php
Posted by: Romney Is A Faux Conservative | June 24, 2009 12:02 PM
Romney? - will allways be a two-faced hypocritical phony in my book.
Posted by: Michael | June 24, 2009 12:13 PM
Romney is just another chickenhawk. The two British crown princes have gone off to war, with Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, not one of the 5 Romney boys have served. They said they were too busy helping with their Dad's political campaign. Republican chickenhawks all.
Posted by: Continuum | June 24, 2009 12:31 PM
I think the well travelled Governor of South Carolina is the clear Republican choice for President.
Posted by: Marcus | June 24, 2009 1:00 PM
This trend is only going to continue. Palin, while an interesting character and certainly an energetic campaigner was never really a legitimate contender for POTUS. I, like many Republicans, feigned enthusiasm when she was announced as McCain's running mate, but it was mostly because the man who ought to be our president, Romney, wasn't being tied to a sinking ship. Romney's main problem lies in being defined by his enemies. Liberals and rival Conservatives alike applied all sorts of ill-fitting labels like flip-flopper and "fake" that unfortunately have stuck. Let's hope that over the next 3 years, concerned American citizens can get to know the real Romney: very smart, fiscally sensible, and deeply interested in the place of the United States in the world.
Posted by: Tom Kane | June 24, 2009 1:13 PM
Romney's the only person from 2008 who remains viable going forward. This is why you have continued attacks in comments, lol.
Independents outnumber Democrats, who barely outnumber Republicans. You get the independents, you win the Presidency. Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee types are dream opponents because they would get destroyed in an election simply because they are of questionable intelligence and they pander to Culture warriors.
Romney, more than Obama, appeals to your intellect, to your reason, to your fairness. This is why the DNC attacked him the most in the GOP primary race. This is why McCain and Huckabee had to combine in WV to beat him, why McCain used Crist in FL to slander him 2 days before the primary...he's formidable because he is intelligent, articulate and accomplished. IN other words, he is Obama in appearance plus he is extremely capable and proven.
Posted by: brock | June 24, 2009 1:34 PM
Mitt lost me at "two Guantanomo's". He's a shameless panderer to the red-meat pug base.
Posted by: dt☢ | June 24, 2009 2:20 PM
I think that the key reason that Romney and Newt have better pro/con ratios with the general public is because they have lower name recognition than Palin among Democrats. I suspect that, since these are Republicans, many of the don't know/undecided are Democrats and will move to the negative side if the person becomes better known. Note that the Don't know for palin is about 10% but 32% and 22% for Romney and Newt respectively. In the end we wind up at about 50/50 in our elections. Obama was 53/46 in votes. With Palin having the chance to promote her own message, she could pick up a few points.
Posted by: William Shipley | June 24, 2009 9:17 PM
Mitt has had work done to his face.
Very subtle.
Nevertheless, noone looks younger now than last year, without help.
Posted by: ornery | June 25, 2009 12:52 AM
I think Sarah Palin just needs more experience and has to do more "homework". So she might be a far better politician. But at her current state she really would have been a bad vice president.
Posted by: Alan | June 26, 2009 12:43 PM