Park had been the leading candidate for the 2012 presidential election in every national-level poll in South Korea between 2008, when the Lee Myung-bak administration began, and September 2011, with an approval rating of 25% to 45%, more than twice that of the second candidate. Park's approval rating was highest when the 2008 National Assembly election showed her strong influence and lowest in early 2010 as a result of her political stance against the Lee administration in Sejong City issue. Park also benefited from a public image of standing aloofly above the fray of politics.