From Rasmussen Reports, "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll" by Scott Rasmussen
Now I know why the left was so angry when John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate (apart from the fact that they're always angry except for when Barack Obama is soothing them with sweet clichés): They knew Sarah Palin would play with the American public in a way that even eminent statesman Joe Biden (chortle) would not.
How'd yesterday's rollout go?
Sarah Palin has made a good first impression. Before being named as John McCain's running mate, 67% of voters didn't know enough about the Alaska governor to have an opinion. After her debut in Dayton and a rush of media coverage, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 53% now have a favorable opinion of Palin while just 26% offer a less flattering assessment… By way of comparison, on the day he was selected as Barack Obama's running mate, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden was viewed favorably by 43% of voters.
The Palin selection has also halted Team Barry's post Denver bounce. Yesterday, Obama led by four. Same thing today.
I guess the Nervous Nellies in the conservative press can now stop muttering about 1988 and blindly speculating about how Palin will play with the great unwashed. We now have some empirical data. The polls are nice, but still nicer is the cool $4.49 million that the McCain campaign raised yesterday. Anyone with memories of 1988 will know Dan Quayle's elevation didn't trigger quite the same reaction.
