What should we make of Sarah Palin's poor poll numbers?

By Richard K. Barry

I was away for a couple of weeks and noticed upon my return that the country is still paying far too much attention to Sarah Palin. This leads me to believe that either she is a marketing genius, or we, and I include myself, are a bunch of fools to pay so much attention to someone as dim as the half-term governor from Alaska.

Why we have found her so fascinating I cannot say. Maybe her relative popularity so amazes us that we focus on her in hopes of better understanding the wholly irrational side of human nature. Sometimes I actually think that if that many Americans view her, or have viewed her, favorably, then I must know very little about politics, or at least the vagaries of public opinion. That's a scary thought for those of us who like to think we know a thing or two about these related fields.

In any case, I suspect that the phenomenon that is Sarah Palin has been very depressing for those who want to think that politics is, to some degree, based on reason.

The good news is that the American people seem to be catching on to her little act, as her popularity, at least as gauged by pollsters, continues to wane. According to a new poll by Fox News, an incredible 71% of GOP voters say they don't want Palin to run for president, while only 25% think she should jump in.

Even Tea Party-identifying voters seem to have had enough. Sixty-eight percent in that group say she shouldn't run with 28% percent saying she should.

As for the general electorate, 74% percent don't want her to take the plunge, while only 20% hope she does.

I know there has been speculation recently that she might get in the race. If so, she is the most delusional politician we have seen for some time. Though the real question we might ask is whether or not it is finally over for Ms. Palin. Do these numbers mean that even those who had once been wildly enthusiastic supporters are done with her, that they have woken up and smelled the proverbial coffee?

It's true that when she showed up in Iowa over the summer and elsewhere she got rock star treatment, but is that because she is now simply, as the saying goes, famous for being famous? Charlie Sheen draws crowds too, but I haven't heard anyone suggest he should run for anything.

In a sense I just want the American people, most of them anyway, to see her for the idiot she really is. I want to think that even Republicans are smart enough to finally laugh her off the national stage. For some reason I really want this to be true.

At long last I hope that is what these plummeting poll numbers mean.

Wave goodbye, Sarah.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)