Palin Losing Ground: Still A Viable Candidate?

From Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish:

Palin's Base Shrinks But Intensifies

16 Mar 2011 11:39 am

 

A new ABC/WaPo poll finds her negatives among Republicans at an all-time high. The Hill summarizes:

Palin has a 58 percent net favorable rating among Republicans, and a 37 percent net unfavorable rating. While that rating is still positive, it's the worst she's had with Republicans since she emerged on the national stage; her previous low was 63-31 percent.

But look behind the headlines and you find something more interesting:

“Strong” favorability matters in primaries, where motivation to turn out is an important factor. Among strong Tea Party supporters, strongly favorable views of Huckabee and Palin are highest, at 45 and 42 percent, respectively; strongly favorable views of Gingrich and Romney drop off in this group to 35 and 31 percent, respectively.
There’s a similar pattern in a related group, leaned Republicans who say they are “very” conservative. Palin and Huckabee (at 45 and 44 percent) again attract much higher strongly favorable ratings among strong conservatives than do Gingrich and Romney (30 and 28 percent).

In primaries, enthusiasm matters. And if Huckabee doesn't run ...