With the first poll from Rasmussen Reports since her nomination to be John McCain’s running mate, most Americans have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin. In fact 52% of the voters give her at least a somewhat favorable rating and 31% out of that 52% give her a very favorable rating. It is very early yet and most Americans do not know that much about her as of yet, so this can go up and down very fast. But for now, this is the way it is.

While most Americans may give Palin a favorable rating, she does not do so well with whether or not she was the right choice for Vice Presidential candidate. The poll, which was taken of 1,000 likely voters on September 1, shows that 39% say yes, 39% say no and 22% are undecided. McCain was hoping that by picking a woman, he would be able to get the support of old Hillary Clinton supporters. So far that is not the case. Palin get the support of 41% of the men and just 36% of the women. When you look at the Democratic voters, she just gets the support of 16% of the voters.

When they asked if the nomination of Palin would make them more or less likely to vote for McCain, 37% said more, 36% said less and 23% said it made no difference. Again, she did better with the men – 43% than with the women – 31%. With the Democrats, 10% say it will make them more likely to vote for McCain.

She does not do good at all when it comes to the question of whether or not she would be able to act as President with just 29% overall saying yes. Men were more likely to support Palin’s ability’s 32% vs women at 26%. By party, it comes out to 60% of the Republicans think she can handle the job, while just 8% of Democrats and 22% of independents. On most of the questions, the independents are split pretty much down the middle, with a high percentage still unsure.

Voters simply do not know that much about her and this is what the story was with Ron Paul back in the primary days. People will not vote for someone who they do not know enough about. But it will not only be what she says that will influence the voters, it will be what she did as mayor and governor. These facts are a matter of public record and we will be looking into what issues she considered important on a local level and see how they relate to the national scene. Stay tuned. There is a lot more to come.

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