“Political Winners” Circle Filled by Figures Close to Obama
Americans divided in labeling Sarah Palin as a political winner or loser
by Lydia Saad
PRINCETON, NJ -- In Americans' estimation, the top three political winners of 2009 are all women closely linked with the Obama administration: Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sonia Sotomayor. Among these, Michelle Obama has the broadest support with 73% calling her a "winner" in U.S. politics this year and 21% a "loser." However, Clinton's rating is nearly as positive.
President Barack Obama, himself, also falls in the political winners circle, although the percentage calling him a political loser is somewhat higher than is seen for the three women.
The picture is quite different for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom half of all Americans identify as a political loser. More than half say the same of Rep. Joe Wilson (the representative who yelled "You lie!" to Obama at a joint session of Congress), as well as Gov. Mark Sanford (who is losing his wife and is under a state ethics investigation over an admitted extramarital affair), White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and the Republicans in Congress generally.
In between the clear-cut political winners and losers are a number of public figures with more mixed reviews. Nearly half of Americans (46%) call Sarah Palin a winner, but slightly more (49%) call her a loser. About equal numbers of Americans call Ben Bernanke (Time magazine's choice for person of the year) and radio talk host Glenn Beck winners and losers, while a large segment has no opinion about either man. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is more widely viewed as a loser than a winner, but not to as great a degree as Pelosi -- possibly in part because of his high "no opinion" rating.
<SNIP>
http://www.gallup.com/poll/124790/Political-Winners-Circle-Filled-Figures-Close-Obama.aspx