I continue to be amazed by how Sarah Palin routinely wracks up some of the worst polling numbers imaginable for a would-be White House candidate, and yet the Beltway press seems to think it's not that big of a deal. Have we ever seen high-profile politicians accumulate (sky) high unfavorable ratings month after month, and have the press hype their White House chance even more each month?

The odd disconnect was highlighted on CNN's Reliable Sources yesterday when the Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet, discussing the branding of Palin, said the former Alaska governor had done “everything right” in terms of positioning herself as a star. To Sweet's credit, she did point out Palin's low approval ratings. (Lots of journalists don't even bother.)

But it still seems odd that pundits credit Palin for her “genius” marketing when polling indicates that rather than succeeding with the American people, she's failing: The more people see Palin, the less they like her. And remember that Palin doesn't even hold office, which means she's not responsible for anything or forced to make unpopular policy choices.

Behold Palin's train-wreck unfavorable trend, courtesy of Gallup:

If Palin's doing “everything right,” can you imagine what that graph would look like if she were doing everything wrong?