Sarah Palin has, of late, been skittish of national events, and recast herself as focused almost entirely on her home state of Alaska.
As her spokeswoman said recently, "If there is something that she can do that benefits Alaskans or Alaska or allows her to keep Alaskans first, she'll participate."
And here, politically speaking, is why: The politician John McCain often defended as "the most popular governor in America" has fallen to earth.
A new poll from Hays Research in Anchorage says Gov. Sarah Palin now has 54 percent positive and 41. 6 percent negative rating in Alaska.
That's a dramatic change from the 86 percent positive and just 9 percent negative Hays reported in a poll on Palin almost exactly a year ago. It's also down from a survey taken six weeks earlier.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0509/Palin_falls_to_earth.html