By Gary P Jackson
Gallup has released a new poll measuring favorability, positive intensity and emotions [of and toward] the 2012 GOP candidates. Sarah Palin has the highest "strongly favorable" rating of any candidate tested.
According to Gallup, Sarah also generates the strong emotions, both positive and negative. This is a better gauge of how well Sarah will fair in the primaries than the "voter intensity" number, which is more about looking at favorablity vs unfavorablity and name recognition.
When I hear that Sarah Palin generates more emotion out of voters I take that as a great sign. Let me tell you why, when folks are faced with choices about people, or products, they will base part of their choice on an emotional tie or feeling, especially among a group of people, or products, that are perceived to be similar.
Now I'm not saying Sarah is similar to any of the other candidates. In fact she is far superior in every way, but being a Republican, as are the others ..... well .... you get it.
Thinking of this reminds me of my time in the automobile business. For many years Dodge trucks were something dealerships had, but sold few of, unless they came with the world beating Cummins diesel engine, and even then, the joke was you bought the engine and were forced to take the truck. Starting in the early 90s, word leaked out Dodge was looking to do something about this.
As all manufacturers do, the designers created several models to test viability and well aesthetics. These can be anything from life-size clay models to working prototypes. Long story short, Dodge came up with several designs. There were the standard looking trucks of the day with a mostly square cab and bed. They looked like every other truck that was currently on the road. Then they had this radically different looking truck. A more classic look that not only gave a nod to the older, more traditional look, but also a nod to the big 18 wheelers. It had a strong, tough look. It also had a beefy chassis [spine] and impeccable performance. [record] But, it was way different than anything anyone else was even thinking about.
At this point the had focus groups [think voters] look at the models and give their impression. [think polling] No one was told they were looking at what would possibly be the new Dodge, to them it was just a new truck design. They rated these designs on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
When shown the reserved, contemporary looking truck, the one that looked like the rest, it got compliments. Many were impressed, many said they would buy it, if they were looking for a truck. Some even guessed it was a new Dodge. It mostly got "5s" on the scale.
Then people were shown the more radical out of the box design. As the story goes, fist-fights actually broke out over this deal! People either loved it or hated it. There was little in-between. People either gave it a "0" or a "10"! More people loved it than not, with many proclaiming they had to have one right now! [and they didn't even need a truck]
This truck would become what we now call the Dodge Ram. It was successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams. In the first quarter it was on sale, Dodge sold more of these things in Texas alone, that had the entire previous year, nationwide. People wanted the truck and had to have it. The longer that truck was out there, the better sales got.
Now Sarah Palin isn't a truck, but she does create the same kind of emotions emotions. And a hell of a lot more people in the Republican Party have a positive feeling about her than a negative. And that positive feeling is intense. For example, Gallup recently polled Sarah's support against Mitt Romney's. It found that 52% of Sarah's supporters said there was "no chance " they would change their minds and vote for someone else. Only 30% of Romney's supporters were that strong.
Being a strong supporter of Sarah myself, I can relate to this intensity. Most Palin supporters are well versed in politics and have researched Sarah's record, and the record of other candidates as well. Far from blindly following someone who can give a good speech, and say what people want to hear, Sarah's supporters are strong because of their research and know she has a long record to back up what she says.
She says what she means, and means what she says. That is a rare thing these days.
What does all of this mean? It means Sarah Palin generates excitement. The kind of excitement it takes to fill stadiums, and get people excited about being Conservatives. The kind of excitement that creates a strong, unbeatable base of support that, as Jack Kelly put it: "would crawl over ground glass to vote for her." And not just vote for her, but go door to door, make phone calls, raise money, and so on. This is already in play in Iowa, as independent members of Organize4Palin have already created a larger ground game than any candidate has, and they did this all on faith, just hoping she would run.
No other candidate has the ability to generate this loyalty, or desire. Palin supporters are ready to hit the streets and make sure Sarah Palin is our next President.
I'm reminded of the reaction to Sarah Palin after her monumental VP nomination acceptance speech in 2008. Before the RNC was worried. No one was excited about McCain, donations were slow in coming, and many offices lacked anything resembling campaign volunteers. Almost overnight, after her speech, over $10 million in donations came in, and people were banging on the doors of their local RNC headquarters to volunteer. That's a story the corrupt media, and the GOP establishment would love for you to forget.
Sarah Palin has something no one else has. She has the charisma to draw people in, and the ability to actually be President. Her record proves she can do what must be done, and get it done in short order. The others have pretty words, Sarah Palin has a substantial record of positive achievement. That's a combination that will make sure that she will be the one taking the Oath of Office as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2013.
Sarah Palin has the ability to create a strong, permanent Conservative revolution that will not only restore our nation, but keep it strong.
From Gallup: [emphasis mine]
A Newsweek cover story on the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate quoted Palin as saying, "I believe that I can win a national election," and that she is still thinking about running.
Palin's high 95% name recognition -- the highest of any candidate or potential candidate Gallup is tracking -- is one of her major political attributes. Her Positive Intensity Score, currently 15, has been in the 13 to 19 range throughout the year so far. This puts her behind Cain and Bachmann, but in roughly the same range as Romney. At the same time, Palin generates stronger emotions -- both positive and negative -- than Romney does. His Positive Intensity Score is based on the difference between the 18% of those who recognize him who have a strongly favorable opinion and the 3% who have a strongly unfavorable opinion. A significantly higher 25% of Republicans who recognize Palin have a strongly favorable opinion of her and a higher 9% have a strongly unfavorable opinion (Palin's net Positive Intensity Score is 15 because of rounding when precise numbers are calculated).
Palin's 25% strongly favorable rating is the highest of any candidate tested in the latest two-week average, from June 27-July 10, one percentage point ahead of Cain's 24% and five points ahead of Bachmann's 20%.
These strong numbers, and Sarah isn't even running yet. We foresee this future headline from Drudge:
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