Palin certainly hasn't gotten the pipeline started. The contract signed with TransCanada Corp neither has the federal approval nor a requirement to actually do a damn thing. All Palin did is sign a law stating that Alaska can give away USD 500 million and the license to operate the pipeline to TCC. Further, the pipeline will cost a minimum USD 26 billion (and knowing how things almost always go over budget, it will cost more).
Her predecessors haven't exactly been undermining it, either. If you want to blame it not having been built yet (and it was looked at during the 70s oil crisis) blame Canada. And if it doesn't get built, Alaska may be out 500 million dollars, far more than what she's tried to have earmarked for Alaska. Her "gut reaction" here may well cost Alaska a huge bill later with no benefit.
As to her approval rating: it comes from a poll that is asking neither personal or job approval ratings. The difference? Bill Clinton (you probably know him as Slick Willy) had high job approval, but low personal approval ratings. Palin's rating comes from this question:"respondents were asked to rate their feelings toward public figures as very or somewhat positive or very or somewhat negative."
What the firm (Ivan Moore Research) did next was to combine the verys and somewhats. So if she had a spread like this: 10% very approve, 20% somewhat approve, 40% no opinion, 20% somwhat disapprove, 10% very disapprove, it becomes 30% approve, 40% no opinion, 30% disapprove. Which is somewhat misleading.
Ivan Moore has asked this question only in Alaska. The McCain campaing issued its own poll stating job approval ratings at 86% for Palin.
A Rasmussen polll conducted around the same time as the Ivan Moore (which showed a 76% approval rate) shows Palin having a 64% job approval rate.
More to the point--she's a republican governor in a republican state. Perhaps republicans like their own? Now Mark Warner--there was a popular governor. Democrat governor popular in VA. Hmmm.
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