Barack Obama would rout Sarah Palin in a theoretical matchup in the 2012 presidential election, according to a Bloomberg National Poll released Tuesday. The Democratic president led the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee by 16 points, 51 percent to 35 percent, the poll found.
One in 10 voters said they would not cast a ballot, and 4 percent said they were undecided.
Palin said in an interview last week she would not likely run for president if voters preferred a more traditional candidate. But during this midterm election cycle, she has been endorsing and campaigning for a number of Republicans across the country, including tea party favorites Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware — a move by Palin that many see as an effort to lay the groundwork for a presidential run.
Still, Palin’s overall popularity remained low. Only 38 percent of those surveyed said they had a favorable opinion of her, while 54 percent viewed her unfavorably. Meanwhile, 53 percent said they viewed Obama favorably and 44 percent unfavorably.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama’s 2008 Democratic presidential rival, had among the highest favorability ratings, with 64 percent viewing her favorably and 31 percent unfavorably.
Those surveyed were nearly evenly split over whether Obama was doing a good job as president: 47 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved.
And more than four in 10 who previously backed the president said their support had diminished or that they no longer supported him.
The poll, conducted for Bloomberg News Oct. 7-10, was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 adults, including 721 likely voters in this fall’s midterm elections. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
