Palin Progression

Palin’s poll numbers have fallen dramatically since her nomination, and perhaps most importantly:

The declines in Palin’s ratings have been even more substantial among the very voters Republicans aimed to woo. The percentage of white women viewing her favorably dropped 21 points since early September; among independent women, it fell 24 points.

Conservatives (e.g. Colin Powell) have been swayed by the Palin pick to move to Obama. Arnold Schwarzenegger, still a McCain supporter, can’t really defend the pick:

BROWN: Do you think [Palin is] qualified to be president?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that she will get to be qualified.
BROWN: She will get there? What do you mean? She’s not ready yet?
SCHWARZENEGGER: By the time that she is sworn in I think she will be ready.

(source)
TPM has an interactive guilde to conservative politicians, pundits and newspapers citing Palin and endorsing Obama.

Reading these, I’m interested in looking back at my own initial reactions and move to the point where I am today. My initial reaction on Twitter was “Given the alternatives, Palin looks like a smart pick, I guess.. we’ll see.”

That first night, after saying “Who?” like everyone else, I thought she had a real chance to change the dynamics of the race and mix things up, which would be good for McCain. A couple of days later, I wrote a post about experience and preparedness and included some positives about Palin:

Palin has executive governmental experience, unlike any of the other candidates, and has shown an ability to fight through establishment and accomplish some anti-corruption goals. That’s a valuable skill, certainly, and fits well with McCain’s “maverick” theme.

Time has shown those attributes to be oversold, though. She was for the bridge before she was against it, she’s had problems separating her personal and professional life (e.g. troopergate), etc. She showed that she not only had no real foreign policy experience, but she hadn’t really thought about the significant issues to any great degree. She’s not stupid, she’s just not prepared.

I’m relieved that her numbers are tanking like this: she was a cynical and unserious pick, and we saw right through it.