Republicans saw her as the ultimate outsider. A fresh face who understood them. A charismatic leader with a big future in 2012. But there was a downside to Governor Palin-Gary Langer notes that An unusually large number of Americans express an unfavorable opinion of Palin, a legacy of her difficult run for vice president. In the latest data, a CNN poll last month, 46 percent expressed a favorable opinion of her overall, 43 percent unfavorable.. This is the most basic measure of any public figure's popularity, and having your unfavorable score approach your favorable rating is not good at all. Then theres the lampooning. Wright reminds that Palin drew plenty of snipes-from SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and elsewhere-for seeming not ready for prime...