Many in the traditional media and the political punditry are agog over Sarah Palin. They monitor and deconstruct her tweets and Facebook postings, trying to determine how she'll shape the nation. But, Palin doesn't cast the same spell over real voters -- outside of the hard core of the hard core Republicans. Look at PPP's latest numbers from New Hampshire:
Kelly Ayotte's seen her appeal to moderate voters crumble in the wake of her endorsement by Sarah Palin and her lead over Paul Hodes has shrunk to its lowest level of any public polling in 2010- she has a 45-42 advantage over him, down from 47-40 in an April PPP poll.While Palin's endorsement may help with the extreme GOPers (and the Villagers), it's not so helpful with the moderates:
Most of the movement both in feelings about Ayotte and in the horse race has come with moderate voters. Moderates make up the largest bloc of the New Hampshire electorate at 47%, and Hodes' lead with them has expanded from just 8 points at 47-39 in April to now 21 points at 51-30. Ayotte's favorability with them has gone from +5 at 32/27 to -19 at 27/46.So, Ayotte could win the GOP primary because of Palin's endorsement, but lose the general election because of Palin's endorsement. I'll take that.
The Palin endorsement may well be playing a role in this. 51% of voters in the state say they're less likely to back a Palin endorsed candidate to only 26% who say that support would make them more inclined to vote for someone. Among moderates that widens to 65% who say a Palin endorsement would turn them off to 14% who it would make more supportive.
I met Paul Hodes at Netroots Nation -- and I was impressed. He's not your run-of-the-mill Senate candidate. He's got a varied background: a lawyer and a musician. And, he supports marriage equality. His website is here.
