Skepticism of Palin Growing, Poll Finds

Source: Washington Post
With the vice presidential candidates set to square off today in their only scheduled debate, public assessments of Sarah Palin's readiness have plummeted, and she may now be a drag on the Republican ticket among key voter groups, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
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But it is the experience question that may prove her highest hurdle, particularly when paired with widespread public concern about McCain's age. About half of all voters said they were uncomfortable with the idea of McCain taking office at age 72, and 85 percent of those voters said Palin does not have the requisite experience to be president.

The 60 percent who now see Palin as insufficiently experienced to step into the presidency is steeply higher than in a Post-ABC poll after her nomination early last month. Democrats and Republicans alike are now more apt to doubt her qualifications, but the biggest shift has come among independents.
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In the new Post-ABC poll, majorities of conservatives and Republicans maintain that Palin has the necessary experience to step in as president, though those numbers are also down somewhat from early last month.

But a third of independent voters now indicate they are less likely to support McCain because of Palin, compared with 20 percent who said so in an ABC poll a month ago. Palin now repels more independents than she attracts to McCain. The share of independent women less apt to support McCain because of the Palin pick has more than doubled to 34 percent, while the percentage more inclined to support him is down eight points.

White Catholics, another important group of swing voters, also are now more likely to say that Palin dampens their support for McCain.
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Vets critical of Palin's national guard leadership

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A veterans advocacy group released its preliminary findings Wednesday on the state of the Alaska National Guard, a report that in parts was critical of Gov. Sarah Palin.

The report released by Veterans For America said that under Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, it found that "the post-deployment needs of Alaska National Guard members and their families remain largely unmet."

The group spent a week in Alaska assessing the condition of the Guard there, and said it found deficiencies in basic services and needs for returning veterans and their families, including access to health care.

VFA's report concluded that the state was not doing enough to ensure the proper transition of its Guard members after returning from deployments to Iraq.

The report centered on the post-deployment status of returning veterans, in particular the difficulty for rural Guard members in gaining access to medical services.
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