TEMPE, Ariz. –– Although the release of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s new book dominates media coverage, few voters in Arizona would like to see her become president in the future, according to a new Cronkite/Eight poll. The poll, conducted Nov. 19-22, found that 20 percent of those interviewed would like to see her run for president sometime in the future while 63 percent would not want to see her run and 17 percent had no opinion. Forty-three percent of the Republicans would like her to run compared to 10 percent of the Democrats and 20 percent of the Independents.
In addition, while the 2010 Arizona governor’s race is still a year away, if the race ends up being between Attorney General Terry Goddard and incumbent Gov. Jan Brewer, Goddard would start the campaign with a significant lead over Brewer. Forty-seven percent of registered voters in the statewide poll said they would vote for Goddard, 28 percent would vote for Brewer, 4 percent said they would vote for neither and 21 percent said it was too early to have an opinion.
The poll also asked voters how they would vote for the U.S. Senate seat that will be up for bid next year if Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano comes back to Arizona to run against incumbent Sen. John McCain. Among Arizona voters, McCain has a 9-percentage-point lead over Napolitano (50 percent to 41 percent) with 4 percent saying they wouldn’t support either candidate and 5 percent were undecided.
The poll also found that Arizona’s voters are evenly divided on the job President Barack Obama is doing and whether the president should send additional troops to Afghanistan. Forty-eight percent of those interviewed strongly (14 percent) or generally (34 percent) approved of his job performance while 48 percent strongly (28 percent) or generally (20 percent) disapproved and 4 percent were undecided. When asked if whether the president should send additional troops to Afghanistan, 45 percent would approve of sending more troops, 40 percent were opposed and 15 percent had no opinion. Republicans were more critical of the president and were more supportive of sending troops to Afghanistan. Independents were evenly divided when answering both questions.
http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/poll/2009/11-24-09.htm