Raleigh, N.C. – Sarah Palin found herself, as she frequently does, at the center of another political maelstrom following the massacre in Tucson a week and a half ago, kindled mostly by pundits in the media and on the left but then enflamed by her own response last Wednesday. Americans are split on whether the media treats her fairly, and almost two-thirds say she bears no responsibility for the attacks, yet a plurality also disapprove of her reaction to the shootings and the resulting controversy revolving around herself.
American voters are much more inclined to think President Obama gets a fair shake from journalists than that Palin does. 51% say the president is treated fairly, not much higher than the 47% who say that of Palin, but the 45% who say she is not treated fairly pales to the 35% who say that of Obama. Democrats are actually okay with Obama’s media treatment, saying he is treated unfairly by only a 46-43 margin. But opinion on Palin is polarized, with 77% of Democrats siding with the media’s fairness and an equal share of Republicans siding with its unfairness. Even 26% of Republicans say the president is not covered objectively, something only 15% of Democrats say of Palin.
Driven mostly by Democrats, 26% of voters overall think Palin is at least partially responsible for what happened in Arizona, while 64% still say she is not. Democrats break just narrowly, 45-43, toward giving her some share of blame, but 87% of Republicans and 64% of independents disagree.
While Americans seem to mostly absolve Palin of blame and at least somewhat sympathize with her news coverage, they do not think she handled her video statement well. 40% think her eight-minute speech, released the same day as the president’s memorial address in Tucson, was inappropriate. Only 27% think it appropriate, and a third, including a bare plurality of Republicans, are unsure. The GOP only breaks 41-17 in support of her tack, but Democrats side 13-60, and independents 28-42, against it.
“This is vintage Sarah Palin,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Americans start to sympathize with her a little for getting unfairly blamed for the Arizona shooting, and then she quickly squanders whatever good will she earned.”
PPP surveyed 632 American voters from January 14th to 16th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.9%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you think the media treats Sarah Palin fairly
or not?
Treats her fairly ….. 47%
Treats her unfairly . 45%
Not sure ……………. 8%
Q2 Do you think the media treats Barack Obama
fairly or not?
Treats him fairly….. 51%
Treats him unfairly. 35%
Not sure ……………. 13%
Q3 Do you think Sarah Palin bears any
responsibility for last week’s shooting in
Arizona or not?
Bears some
responsibility ………26%
Does not……………. 64%
Not sure ……………. 10%
Q4 Do you think Sarah Palin’s video response to
the Arizona shooting this week was appropriate
or inappropriate, or are you not familiar with it?
Appropriate ……….. 27%
Inappropriate……… 40%
Not familiar with it.. 33%
Q5 Would you describe yourself as a liberal,
moderate, or conservative?
Liberal ……………………………………………………. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 41%
Conservative…………………………………………… 40%
Q6 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 48%
Man……………………………………………………….. 52%
Q7 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 40%
Republican……………………………………………… 37%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 23%
Q8 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 10%
White …………………………………………………….. 74%
African-American …………………………………….. 12%
Other……………………………………………………… 4%
Q9 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 11%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 27%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 43%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 19%
