Poll shows Palin fading in Iowa GOP

DES MOINES, Iowa, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Sarah Palin is losing ground among Republicans in the presidential campaign pace-setting state of Iowa, poll results released Monday indicate.

The percentage of Republicans who view Palin favorably fell to 65 percent from 71 percent in November 2009 and her "very favorable" contingent to 18 percent from 27 percent in The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll.

The figures are for Republicans who say they will vote in the 2012 caucuses.

"One might ask the question: Is she wearing well? And the numbers are not moving in a favorable direction on that," Iowa Poll director J. Ann Selzer said.

Palin is a former Alaskan governor and was the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate. Since the fall of 2009, she has produced two best-selling books, become a Fox News Channel pundit and had a television program made about her. She has also visited Iowa four times but has yet to declare she is running for president in 2012.

The poll of 800 adults was conducted Feb. 13-16 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. The responses from 189 likely Republican voters have a margin of error of 7.1 percentage points.