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Palin has steep climb for 2012

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor November 16, 2009 03:03 PM

As Sarah Palin embarks on a pivotal week for her future political prospects, a new poll shows just how far she has to go with the American public.

The former Alaska governor, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, and possible 2012 presidential contender appears today on "Oprah," officially comes out with her best-selling "Going Rogue" memoir on Tuesday, and does a series of other interviews this week.

But the Washington Post/ABC News poll published today says that 60 percent of Americans do not believe that she is qualified to serve as president. A majority, 53 percent, also say they would not vote for Palin for president in 2012 , while only 9 percent say they would definitely vote for her and another 37 percent say they would consider it.

And a majority, 52 percent, view her unfavorably, though among Republicans, her positive rating soars to 76 percent.

Palin also doesn't fare well in another poll released today.

In the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, only 28 percent said that she is qualified to be president. That is significantly lower than for potential 2012 GOP rivals Mitt Romney (47 percent) and Mike Huckabee (43 percent).

And Palin's number is far behind two high-profile Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton (67 percent say she's qualified to be commander in chief) and Vice President Joe Biden (50 percent.)

UPDATE: In the "Oprah" interview, Palin said that a 2012 bid is "not on my radar screen right now," but didn't rule out that it might be later. "I am dealing with so many issues that are important to me,” said Palin, who resigned over the summer as governor. “What I am seeing every day is that you don’t need a title to be important."

She also deflected any blame for the Republican ticket's loss last year.

"I think the reason we lost is that the economy tanked under a Republican and people were very seriously looking for a change," Palin said. "I don't think I was to blame for losing the race more than I could have been credited for winning the race if I had done a better job."

tags Going Rogue, Oprah, Sarah Palin

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