71 Percent of Americans, Including 52 Percent of Republicans Are Liberal Elitists

The always sage David Broder offers up some advice to America’s condescending liberal elites: “The snows that obliterated Washington in the past week interfered with many scheduled meetings, but they did not prevent the delivery of one important political message: Take Sarah Palin seriously.” The Dean observes that Palin offers “a pitch-perfect recital of the populist message that has worked in campaigns past.”

Given that even Broder can see Palin’s massive appeal, it’s strange that she’s so incredibly unpopular:

Palin’s own ratings are weaker, apparently hurt rather than helped by her return to the spotlight. Fifty-five percent of Americans see her unfavorably, the most basic measure of a public figure’s popularity, and 71 percent believe she’s not qualified to serve as president, a position she said Sunday she’ll consider seeking. Both negatives are at new highs.

Palin’s more popular in her own party — 69 percent of Republicans see her favorably. But far fewer, 37 percent, do so “strongly.” (By contrast, in an ABC/Post poll last month, 70 percent of Democrats had a strongly favorable opinion of Barack Obama.) More problematic for Palin is that even in her own party 52 percent think she’s not qualified for the presidency — up by 16 points from an ABC/Post poll in November, shortly before the publication of her memoir, in which she criticizes the strategy of the 2008 Republican presidential campaign.

Speaking personally, I’m an out-of-touch elitist—straight outta Greenwich Village to Harvard to the Beltway—so of course I think that Palin’s lack of knowledge about any area of national policy render her unqualified. But who knew that over seventy percent of the country is composed of pointy-headed elites?