Has Sarah Palin peaked too soon?
They dubbed it ‘Palinmania’ but has the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, already peaked too soon?
Her Jackie-O suits, sophisticated specs and soccer mom attributes may have initially won over middle America, but now it appears the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, is creeping back up the polls and Palin’s surge was all hot air.
Obama is now sitting in the same position he occupied before the Alaska governor Palin entered the gripping presidential race.
Sources in the Democrat camp are reportedly confident the ‘Palin effect‘ has reached its zenith after charming the nation over the last month.
A new poll by the New York Times-CBS shows that after an initial surge of support for Palin among white women, few new female voters have been attracted to the party.
Add to that her fervent anti-abortion stance and sarcastic put-downs of Senator Obama and now Republican John McCain is trailing the Democrats by 14 percentage points, according to the poll.
Although the hard-talking Palin still continues to draw in the crowds as she tours the States, it is becoming increasingly obvious that on the odd occasion when her speeches are not scripted, the 44-year-old’s lack of experience shines through.
When quizzed recently on her foreign policies, Palin answered readily: ‘I am prepared and I am confident. If you want specifics or countries go ahead. You can even play ‘stump the candidate’ if you want. But we are ready to serve.’
John McCain jumped to his running mate’s defence saying: ‘Being a mother of a soldier in Iraq and commander of the Alaskan national guard was ample qualification for high office.’
Tellingly, one voter, Trish Castiglione, who listened to Palin speak left the conference commenting: ‘I came in thinking I would vote for them, but I don’t know now.
‘We are having a one-state recession here and we didn’t hear much about that. I really like her as a person but I know that’s not a reason to vote for her.’
