Palin’s Mavericky Popularity
08 July 2009 1:10 pm by Taylor Marsh
The challenges for Republicans remain among swing voters, which is no surprise. Sarah Palin doesn’t help that, but she’s no worse than anyone else on the right, while her popularity with her GOP peeps is strong.
When it comes to a potential presidential run, the USA TODAY Poll displays Palin’s strength in the Republican base and weakness among swing voters, who traditionally decide national elections. Republicans by 71%-27% say they’d be likely to vote for her if she ran for president in 2012, while independents by 51%-44% would not.
“Don’t know what the future holds,” Palin said Tuesday on ABC. “I’m not gonna shut any door. That — who knows what doors open?”
But as everyone spins their angle on why she resigned, with my take still where we should anchor for now, it’s John Fund who offers a wacky version that’s fitting of Palin’s own mavericky acting out. It’s all because of FOIA. I kid you not.
This situation developed because Alaska’s transparency laws allow anyone to file Freedom of Information Act requests. While normally useful, in the hands of political opponents FOIA requests can become a means to bog down a target in a bureaucratic quagmire, thanks to the need to comb through records and respond by a strict timetable. Similarly, ethics investigations are easily triggered and can drag on for months even if the initial complaint is flimsy.
Evidently, the Wall Street Journal will print anything these days.
