Poll shows Palin might be losing some of her luster
The honeymoon is over for Sarah Palin.
After a third major TV interview during which her performance was uneven at best, even fellow Republicans are having trouble enthusiastically backing their vice presidential nominee.
The first-term Alaska governor had been a phenomenon, bringing delegates to their feet with her speech at the Republican National Convention early this month and helping John McCain draw the biggest crowds of his campaign afterward.
But voters are now apparently having doubts. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released yesterday found that while 47 percent of likely voters believed that Palin had the personality and leadership qualities a president should have, 49 percent said she didn't.
Compare that with her Democratic counterpart Joe Biden: 55 percent said he had the necessary qualities, while only 39 percent said he did not. Both Barack Obama and John McCain had 62 percent of voters believing they have what it takes to be president.
And now some conservative commentators are skeptical or disillusioned. Syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who had praised McCain's surprise selection of Palin, called yesterday for her to step aside from the ticket.
"As we've seen and heard more from John McCain's running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion," Parker wrote yesterday on National Review's website.
"It was fun while it lasted. Palin's recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League."
FOON RHEE
"You came straight into the middle of the conflict. . . . That was very brave of you," Saakashvili told Biden before a private meeting. "I certainly will not forget that, and my people are not going to forget it."
Saakashvili said the trip was even more remarkable because it came while Biden was being publicly mentioned as a leading candidate to become the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Biden traveled to the pro-Western former Soviet republic in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; he was picked by Obama several days later.
Biden told Saakashvili, "I was happy to do that and thought it was important to show American solidarity and support."
Biden added that Russia must not be allowed to bring down a democratically elected government, that the United States and Europe should provide substantial economic aid to Georgia, and that Russia should be penalized.
Saakashvili met in New York on Wednesday with the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin and thanked McCain for his strong support during Georgia's military conflict with Russia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Palin said Thursday that she also is giving back $1,000 from the wife of one of the men. The move came a few hours after the Associated Press reported that Palin had accepted the money during her successful 2006 campaign when she promised to rid Alaska's capital of dirty politics.
"Governor Palin has made a career of holding herself to the highest standards of ethics. As soon as the governor learned of the donations today, she immediately decided to donate them to charity," campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said.
Palin took aim at gift-giving to state officials as part of her ethics agenda but has kept more than $25,000 in gifts in the 20 months she has been governor, The
A review of state records shows that gifts came from industry executives, municipalities, and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in Alaska, according to the newspaper.
The Post reported that the 41 gifts Palin accepted included artwork, free travel, a gold-nugget pin valued at $1,200, a $2,200 ivory puffin mask, a woven grass fan worth $300, and a $150 ivory necklace. A spokeswoman for John McCain's campaign said the gifts had no undue influence on Palin, according to the newspaper.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The ban had outraged the League of Women Voters and members of Congress.
Postal Service officials said the policy had been in effect for more than a decade, though it had not been universally followed and had attracted little attention.
The policy was reiterated on Aug. 22, in the Postal Service's Retail Digest, a weekly internal bulletin.
While voter-registration materials generally were acceptable, the digest said, applications for absentee ballots were prohibited from post office lobbies, along with political campaign pamphlets and posters.
