Open Thread

-The Washington Post poll shows an even bigger lead for Governor Palin among Republican women and independent women that lean Republican:

Palin 23%
Romney 8%
Huckabee 6%
McCain 6%

-While the Washington Post focused on the fact that Governor Palin is quite popular with regular followers of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, her support among regular followers of Limbaugh and Beck only accounted for around a third of her overall support among Republicans and Republican-leaning indies in the poll.

-The most interesting piece of data from the Washington Post poll that all the pundits seem to be missing is the finding that Republicans and Republican-leaning indies accounted for around 62% of the adults surveyed. What that means is that if the GOP nominee for President in 2012 can win 75% of Republicans and Republican-leaning indies, he or she would probably win the election if this sample is an accurate representation of the electorate.

-Mark Blumenthal writes in the National Journal that "[s]hould [Palin] run in 2012, Palin is positioned to emulate the model Barack Obama employed for fundraising and field organizing: Draw big crowds to rallies, mine those crowds for small donations (by selling tickets), e-mail addresses and phone numbers (via text messaging). That effort helped raise $129 million in 2007, allowing Obama to compete in the early primaries, and translated into a small donor/grassroots army that ultimately defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008." In response to the Washington Post poll, Blumenthal notes that even though "Palin is not the first choice for a majority of Republicans in 2012...she has a devoted base of support -- a good thing to start with in a multi-candidate primary election."

-The first paragraph to the lead article in the local section for today's Seattle Times reads "RICHLAND — This is Sarah Palin country, proudly conservative, and something like 2,300 of the faithful lined up outside the Hastings bookstore here for her book-signing Sunday afternoon."

-Seth Lipsky from the Tablet, a Jewish magazine, loved Governor Palin's reply to Barbara Walters' question about Israel and settlements and considers Going Rogue a "marvelous memoir by a very smart, high-spirited woman, who is handling the messiness of family life and the challenges of a public life in a way that is inspiring millions."

-Obama's approval rating among Hispanics fell nine points from last week. His approval rating in the Midwest has also fallen under 50% for the first time in four weeks.

-If you are going to the Tempe or Roswell book signings, drop us a note in the comments and let us know what is going on in the Southwest.