New data released by the Washington Post shows that Sarah Palin’s image is woefully polarizing:

Q: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

Overall:  37 fav/55 unfav
Democrats:  15 fav/75 unfav
Republicans:  66 fav/30 unfav
Independents:  38 fav/55 unfav

The problem is that even if Sarah made it past the primary, her strongly inverted image among Independents would prevent her from even being competitive.

However, her image has remained largely unchanged from their February survey:

“Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin?�
2/4-8/10            37%Fav      55%Unfav     8%Unsure
11/12-15/09      43%Fav      52%Unfav     5%Unsure
7/15-18/09        40%Fav      53%Unfav     7%Unsure
9/27-29/08        51%Fav      40%Unfav     9%Unsure

New data out indicates that voters are beginning to sour on Obama as the generic Republican candidate is in a statistical tie with the President on a generic ballot.

The problem is not an issue with the Democratic base (although many of the wave voters will not turn out again), but Independents are sorry that the change they voted for was not necessarily the change they wanted:

Most Democratic voters and Republican voters plan to support their own party’s candidate for president in the 2012 election. Independents currently show a greater preference for the Republican candidate than for Obama, by 45% to 31%, though about one in four do not have an opinion.

Losing Independents by this margin during mid-terms is an indication of impeding losses by Democrats - especially the Republican-leaning seat they’ve picked up over the past two election cycles.

Will Republicans win enough seats to win back the house?  I’m not sure yet, but we will certainly win enough to make a stand on the rest of Obama’s legislation.  Regardless, Obama’s political strength is eroding.  Not just in this survey, but he was unable to motivate “wave” voters to turn out in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia.

This is going to be a tough cycle for Democrats.