INSIDERS POLL

Praise For Palin Selection

by James A. Barnes and Peter Bell

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008


Q. How much do you think Gov. Sarah Palin will help or hurt John McCain?

80 votes
Helps a lot           59 percent
Helps a little        18 percent
Hurts a little         6 percent
Hurts a lot           10 percent
No impact              5 percent
Not sure (volunteered) 3 percent

Helps a lot

"Stopped cold the Obama juggernaut. Conservatives, especially young ones, are suddenly fired up."

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"Every white male independent with a gun or a hockey stick will like her."

"We dominated the news Friday, which was an accomplishment after Thursday night. We made our convention much more interesting. She will pose problems for the Democrats that they were not expecting."

"Palin is already helping with fundraising. Dispirited Republicans -- even some who despise McCain, like me -- are opening up their wallets."

"Unites and energizes the base; aggravates Obama's problem with women voters and Hillary supporters; adds a solid outsider to a campaign with three U.S. senators at a time when approval ratings for Congress are in single digits."

"Republicans can now return to their anti-government-spending DNA."

"The choice of Gov. Palin will give disaffected Hillary Clinton voters a place to go."

"Big-time score on this one: clearly shows outside-of-the-box thinking, which is the only way GOP wins this year."

"A risky, but shrewd, pick that could give McCain a real good second look by disaffected Clinton supporters. The way they cut off the buzz of Obama's speech was brilliant."

"Forget about female Clinton supporters. Palin's a guy's gal who helps with the lunch-bucket crowd."

"Let's face it, McCain is an unconventional candidate. That's what people like about him. She's got some growing to do, some polishing -- no doubt about it. But she's up to the challenge. And Democrats will see that soon enough."

Helps a little

"It will help a little in that it will bring energy and freshness to a campaign that looked and sounded pretty stale."

"Time will tell: Ask me again after the debate with Joe Biden."

"She is the one candidate the base can get excited about who doesn't necessarily define McCain as lurching back to the right when he clearly has to make a big play for swing voters. Because she's a woman and because she's a reformer, she uniquely motivates the base and has the potential to broaden that appeal."

"This pick might narrow the gender gap a bit for independent women who wonder why Obama ignored Hillary's 18 million votes."

"The danger with surprise picks is surprise backgrounds. All good today."

Hurts a little

"Palin complicates the 'readiness' argument against Obama. She is untested and unknown. Did he forget that he is 72 and there are lingering concerns about his age?"

"Any upside from her reformer profile, youth, gender, and hockey-mom appeal is trumped by her inexperience, anonymity, and almost certain inability to stand toe-to-toe with Biden."

Hurts a lot

"It seems too clever a choice by half -- almost inexplicable. Will most people believe she would be ready to take over? This smells of people spending too much time in a small room talking themselves into something."

"McCain is on his own: No fundraising lift, no swing-state lift, no public-policy lift; and a very high risk of gaffes."

"The choice defies logic. Choosing Palin takes away the 'experience' and the 'is-he-ready-to-be-president' argument that McCain could have effectively used against Obama."

"A 'ticket to nowhere.' "

No impact

"The VP pick does not have an impact."

We also asked prominent bloggers to answer this question.

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