(CNN) – A new national poll suggests that most Americans don't think Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor was a smart political move.
Sixty-one percent of people questioned in a Marist survey released Tuesday say Palin's resignation was a bad political move, while 15 percent feel it helps whatever political aspirations last year's Republican vice presidential nominee may have in the future. Eleven percent said it makes no difference, and 13 percent were unsure of its impact. Even among Republicans, 51 percent think the move hurt more than helped, with one in five GOP voters saying it was a smart move.
Palin, who stepped down last month as Alaska governor with a year and a half left in her first term in office, has been non-committal about any aspirations to run for national office, but she says that she wants to campaign across the country for candidates with ideas that she supports.
According to the poll, 43 percent hold an unfavorable view of the now-private citizen Palin, with 37 percent seeing her in a positive light and one in five unsure. Among Republicans, Palin has a 73 percent favorable rating, with 16 percent holding an unfavorable view. Independents appear split, and Democrats overwhelmingly hold an unfavorable opinion of Palin.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey conducted at the beginning of August had similar results on Palin's favorability.
"Our early August poll had Palin's favorable rating at 39 percent, with 48 percent holding an unfavorable view," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "So both show her just about as popular as Dan Quayle was a few months after the Bush/Quayle ticket went down to defeat in 1992."
Quayle declared himself a presidential candidate in 1994, but dropped out of the race in February, 1995.
Palin's resignation last month fueled speculation about a possible run for the White House. When it comes to a hypothetical matchup for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, the Marist poll suggests a dead heat among three possible contenders, with 21 percent backing former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, 20 percent supporting Palin, and 19 percent backing former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. That's consistent with most other national surveys of the 2012 race conducted this year.
The Marist poll was conducted August 3-6, with 938 U.S. residents questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for the overall sample, and plus or minus 5.5 percentage points for questions only asked of Republicans.
From CNN Politics
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Nothing she does is smart. Including running for Vice President.
If stupidity were a felony, she would be a lifer!!!!!
What would anyone in that situation expect. She quit, plan and simply. And for the future how can she come back an say she has experiance and then 1st get by the quitter stance. She blew it big time.
add her barely warm corpse to the stack including Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, Jindal, Crist, Foley, Cantor, Ensign, Sandford, Vitter, Jeb Bush, McCain, Steel and all the other gop wannabes without a clue.
They won't have a glimpse of the White House for the next three elections. The next Republican President is likely in high school today
Well ... stupid is as stupid does!
Everything is going to be OK. Sarah quit because all of her wise 'executive experience' we heard about in the campaign told her to. She knows what she is doing.
What we have here is quite possibly the dumbest politician of all time. She makes Dan Quayle look like a genius.
Please make her go away! She's an inarticulate airhead!
To be shed of such a dummy is a GOOD thing for Alaskans. WHAT was McCain thinking? He'a dumb too. She's history except for fixed news and the oxycotin-Rush crowd. You would have to be high to think she is a thinker-leader with any honesty or integrity. Jaw dropping silly. Amusingly dangerous as we need a solid 2 party system to at least make it seem pausible that our gov. is remotely honest and for the people, not the multi-nationals. Americans are in big trouble. We need to get off our a–es and get to work taking care of our Republic. Times a'wasting! Start today!!!!!!
We get it guys. You don't like Sarah Palin. She's an idiot,etc. Give it a rest.
Do you people really care about Sarah Palin? She's just a flash in the pan that's being extinguished finally.
It's scary that one in five gop voters think it was a smart choice. It tells me that a lot of people are as stupid as her. No wonder nothing gets done for the people of this country. Insurance companies have nothing to fear they can buy a congress or senate person and the masses are stupid enough to over look it. God help us.
Here we go again...useless information about a useless woman.
Sarah Palin is nothing more right now than a stay at home Mom who occupies her free time going on Facebook.
Palin/Bachmann 2012
The Geritol team
Isn't there something else that we couldbe filling this space with?
Do you need to take a poll for this?
Isn't it obvious that she is a quitter who uses twitter. ( I know its lame)
What is not smart is continuing to report on her. Please, next time her name comes up on a headline, hit the delete button!
It makes no difference to the blind, who only "see" her as they want to "see" her.
can she go away? I have never been so fed up with hearing about someone
Every Person who Exists on Earth has a Value.
A Doctor has Value because she Cures the illness.
A Plumber has Value because he Fixes the Pipes and Faucets.
A Janitor has Value because he Cleans.
A Truck Driver has Value because he Ships Products.
Sarah Palin has Value because she creates Nuisance.
Sarah Palin has NUISANCE VALUE. 8)
Please keep her in the news. Keep reporting about her. She is an asset to the Democratic Party and President Obamas re-election.
43 percent hold an unfavorable view of Obama too, hmmm.....
Enough.... .interest in her is certainly "paling". She lost.. end of story...stick to the news.
Until she get a new job, settles her debt, and releases her "tell all" book, it's impossible to judge whether the resignation was good or not.
It's like leaping off a moving truck that going to crash - you don't know if it was the right move when you're still in the air – when you hit the ground and IF you survive, THEN you can judge.
Surely, you jest "Palin Power." "God's Chosen One" - for what? To make women in politics look stupid?
How on earth can someone who feels too much pressure as an Alaskan governor ever be a president of the USA??? She is nuts. Stepping down is good for the Alaskan people, maybe now they can get someone sane into office.
No one ever accused her of being bright - if Katie's question about what she reads throws her off balance ...