Media Myth Busted: 'Americans View Palin as More Sincere and Believable After Watching Speech'

January 15th, 2011 3:34 PM

Media outlet after media outlet panned Sarah Palin's video response to last Saturday's Tucson shootings with some going so far as claiming it ended any chance she might have of becoming president assuming that's even her goal.

Destroying this myth was a new poll published by Media Curves that actually found Americans seeing the former Alaska governor as more likeable, sincere, and believable after watching her speech:

Respondents were asked to rate Sarah Palin on a scale from 1-7 regarding likeability, believability and sincerity, with 1 representing “not at all strong in this attribute” and 7 representing “extremely strong in this attribute.”

With the exception of likeability among Democrats, Palin’s attribute ratings increased among all parties after viewing her speech. The most notable increase was her sincerity ratings, which increased from 2.62 to 2.69 among Democrats, from 5.25 to 5.45 among Republicans and from 3.68 to 3.85 among Independents.

The poll also found:

  • An increase in the number of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents that see her as a positive figure in the United States after viewing the speech
  • 40 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Republicans, and 56 percent of Independents feeling the speech helped her image
  • 37 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Republicans, and 54 percent of Independents feeling the speech helped her potential run for president

That most certainly will come as a shock to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough who on Friday said Palin's response probably ended her political career.

CNN's Jack Cafferty made a similar observation on Thursday as did MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

Of course, these findings differing so much from media reports is not at all surprising as the press have been totally wrong about this event since the moment shots were fired.

(H/T Hot Air)