US election: 'Pitbull' Palin bites McCain's poll ratings

Published on Wednesday 15 October 2008 22:00

SARAH Palin, the so-called "pitbull in lipstick" who galvanised John McCain's presidential campaign when he picked her as his running mate in August, is now having a negative effect on his image, a poll has found.

The Alaska governor is now seen unfavourably by 41 per cent of the electorate and favourably by only 32 per cent, according to the poll, which was released yesterday by the New York Times/CBS News.

It marks a sharp reversal of fortune compared with a similar poll last month in which she had a favourability rating of 40 per cent and a negativity of only 32.

Casting herself as the political outsider, in tune with "hockey mom", she and her conservative views initially breathed new life into a demoralised Republican base.

But controversies have taken their toll: last weekend an Alaskan inquiry found she and her husband, Todd, had used undue pressure to try to fire a state trooper who was in the process of divorcing from Mrs Palin's sister.

She has also suffered from poor performances in the handful of media interviews she has agreed to.

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