John McCain is quick to tell us his running mate is “the most popular governor in America” and that’s supposed to be a good reason we should vote for her (and him).
There is only one problem with that: Sarah Palin is NOT the most popular governor in America.
In July 2007, The Weekly Standard reported Governor Sarah Palin had “an approval rating in the 90s” and the report was based on a recent public survey in Alaska. Not your state, not mine, just Alaska.
I have no idea what her approval rating is today in Alaska…but let’s accept “the 90s” estimate of The Weekly Standard. That makes her the most popular current governor in Alaska, that’s all. Until late August, no one in the lower 48 had even heard of her.
She is the most popular governor in Alaska, to be sure, but the rest of us – 300 million of us – have never voted for her, and never rated her anything, until John McCain introduced her in Ohio in August of 2008.
It is incorrect, therefore, for John McCain to keep referring to her as the most popular governor in America. If John McCain says, “Sarah Palin has a statewide approval rating in Alaska that is higher than the approval rating of any other sitting governor in his or her state,” I can accept that.
Breaking News: Hold the phone. On October 1, 2008 Mason-Dixon Polling reported her ratings had tumbled to around 68 percent. While that is still good, there are two governors in Western states with approval ratings in the low 80s, and at least two in the 60s. Now McCain can’t say she is the most popular governor – uh, anywhere. Dang it!
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