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A week after bursting onto the national political stage, Sarah Palin has been received favorably — but voters want to know more about the Republican vice presidential candidate. Across the board, her favorability hovers at or above 50 percent. In the latest Rasmussen daily tracking poll, the Alaska governor even polls higher than GOP presidential candidate John McCain, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.). But an ABC poll released Friday shows that half of respondents do not think Palin has the experience needed to “serve effectively as president” if she were forced to step in. While the McCain campaign has run on a theme of experience and readiness, Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz said he is not worried about the result, pointing out that many voters view Palin as experienced as Sen. Obama (Ill.). “Gov. Palin has the kind of real-world and executive experience that resonates with voters demanding change and reform,” Diaz said. “Her record of getting things done at an executive level in the state of Alaska demonstrates she has superior experience and judgment over Barack Obama.” The McCain camp says it is not surprised by Palin’s experience rating given her recent introduction to the nation. The campaign points to the 37 million who tuned in to Palin’s convention speech as proof that people have taken a liking to her.
Internal Republican polling of targeted swing states suggests more people now believe Palin has the experience to lead after hearing her speech. The Obama campaign is skeptical of the poll. Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, thinks that while Palin’s speech may have won over some voters, her high exposure also “comes at some cost.” “I would guarantee that whatever you thought of her [Wednesday] night, if you didn’t have an opinion of her, some people thought more positively of her, but also some more negatively of her,” Gibbs told reporters Thursday at a lunch put on by The Christian Science Monitor. “A lot of people came in not knowing who she was,” Gibbs said, “and I think whenever a political candidate makes a speech that is heavy with contrast like [Wednesday] night’s was, that is going to move people to your side, and it’s going to move people away from you.”
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