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November 30, 2008, 08:21 AM ET
A National Future for Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin is coming to my state to campaign for Saxby Chambliss in the high-stakes runoff election for senator. Chambliss should hope that few college students show up. That’s because most of them don’t like her and don’t respect her.
The Chronicle of Higher Education revealed as much days before the election. In a poll of college students conducted by CBS News/UWIRE/Chronicle, when asked what they think of the vice-presidential candidates, fully 54 percent stated that they “Don’t much like her.” Only 20 percent gave her a “Really like her.”
Those numbers look even worse in light of party affiliation. Of the 25,000 students polled, 44 percent aligned with Democrat, 28 percent with Republican, 28 percent with Independent. In other words, Palin scored well below the Republican Party (which was already in the doldrums). Plus, 33 percent of students supported the McCain-Palin ticket, which means that Palin didn’t cause very many student voters wavering on the outcome to join the Republican side.
Students didn’t think much of her capacities, either. When asked why they think McCain chose her as running mate, only 4 percent chalked it up to “Well-qualified.” Seventy-three percent said, “Would help win.” By contrast, Biden got 42 percent “Well-qualified” and 17 percent “Would help win.”
These are devastating findings. If the youth vote continues to show up in 50-plus percent numbers, and if they continue to lean Democrat by 2-to-1, the Republican Party can’t select candidates who push the young even further away. Yes, many opinions expressed by the students in the poll were silly — such as one in five respondents claiming that America “isn’t ready” to elect a black man president — but 94 percent of them are registered to vote, and 46 percent of them registered to vote just this year. They will likely continue to vote, and the attitudes of both young Democrats and young Independents don’t match those of social conservatives such as Sarah Palin.
This is what leads to the disaffection. It’s a fatal result for a politician. If voters say, “I disagree with this policy and that position,” good politicians can manage it and get by. But if voters say, “I don’t like this guy,” it’s a dead end.
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