Will Sarah Palin be the October surprise?
| Washington
It鈥檚 been a good few weeks for Sarah Palin.
First, Joe McGinniss鈥檚 tell-all book about her was slammed by the mainstream media (those coming to Palin鈥檚 defense included the and even liberal antagonist ).
Now, a shows her trailing President Obama in a head-to-head matchup by just 5 points, 44 to 49 - this, after she had trailed him by more than 20 points for most of the year. That鈥檚 better than current GOP frontrunner Rick Perry, who trails the president 41 to 50 in the same poll.
According to the survey, Palin鈥檚 recent jump in support has come mostly from independents, who have lately been abandoning the president in droves. Still, she remains a controversial figure: 72 percent of Republicans and independents in the same survey also said they don鈥檛 actually think Palin should run.
And that remains the question: will she or won鈥檛 she? Palin recently that she thinks there鈥檚 鈥渟till time鈥� for candidates to get into the race, and that she鈥檚 鈥渟till considering鈥� it. She repeatedly said she believed it would be an 鈥渦nconventional鈥� election year.
Palin did acknowledge that there are deadlines looming to get on the ballot in certain primary and caucus states. (Florida, for example, has a deadline of Oct. 31.)
Still, a late entry isn鈥檛 necessarily insurmountable, particularly for candidates with high name recognition and easy access to cash. In 1995, self-funded candidate Steve Forbes to announce, and quickly became the strongest challenger to ultimate GOP nominee Bob Dole. Forbes made up for his lack of on-the-ground campaigning by blanketing the airwaves in early primary and caucus states with ads.
Palin may string everyone along for a while yet.
Want more?
- Visit Palin鈥檚 Political Action Committee () on the web.
- Peruse some of the more salacious fallout from the McGinniss book, which resulted in a bizarre public (we are staying far away from this one鈥�).
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