Polls: Dems Running Strong In Multiple Senate Races
A bunch of new polls of Senate races around the country paint a very bright picture of the Democrats' prospects, with Dem candidates running strong all over the map. But it's not entirely good news:
• In Colorado, Quinnipiac has Democrat Mark Udall ahead of Republican Bob Schaffer by a 48%-38% margin, for an open Republican-held seat.
• In New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson puts incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg way ahead of Republican Dick Zimmer, by a 45%-28% margin.
• In Mississippi, Rasmussen gives appointed Republican incumbent Roger Wicker a statistically insignificant 48%-47% edge over Democrat Ronnie Musgrove -- not significantly changed since their last poll from a month ago that put Musgrove ahead 47%-46%, despite an extensive ad campaign by Wicker in this deep-red state. Keep an eye on this one.
• In Texas, a new poll from Texas Lyceum gives incumbent Republican John Cornyn an insignificant 38%-36% lead over Democrat Rick Noriega -- a very high number of undecideds in a race featuring an incumbent who has been elected statewide on multiple occasions.
• The one sore spot is Minnesota, where Al Franken continues to trail incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. Quinnipiac puts it at Coleman 51%, Franken 41% -- a bad sign for Dems, if the Republican is above 50% in this blue state.
Late Update: This post originally used numbers from an incorrect page at Rasmussen's site for the Mississippi race. It has been corrected.
Comments (29)
We'll get Franken through...
June 26, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, we'll see. Minnesota is a funky state, and traditionally true blue. Might not look good now, but just wait until September. Plenty of time to catch back up and devour Coleman.
Also note: Coleman has had a pretty bad week in Minnesota. They're really starting to dig in his personal life right now. Anything can happen.
June 26, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey - no credit? I posted this on a lower thread -
[just keeding, Eric. I'm glad you got this too and posted it.]
June 26, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama-Richardson would put us over the edge in both the prez and the Senate.
DO IT!
June 26, 2008 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Has anyone seen those John Cornyn ads where he's wearing the fringed jacket? ROFLMAO. Jon Stewart showed one the other night.
June 26, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
andrew sullivan posted the one with a Johnny Cash-like voice singing "Big Bad John".
It was.... Bad.
June 26, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually the original was by Jimmy Dean.
(God Wikipedia rocks)
June 27, 2008 1:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Moronic. I saw the one on Stewart. It just looked like some bad ad from the 70s had wandered onto the 2008 political landscape.
June 26, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Big John
June 26, 2008 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought it was a parody. I was stunned to find out it was real.
June 26, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was going to write something about this earlier. As a Minnesotan, the idea of Coleman continuing to be our Senator makes me physically ill. In all the polling that I've seen thus far Franken has been running consistantly behind Coleman. Yes, I realize that "it's only June", but if you look nationally the Dems are cleaning house. I'm hoping that within the next month or two that Franken starts getting a better showing against this Bush lap-dog.
June 26, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Big Bad John.
LOLOLOL!!! Needless to say, I love this poll and it's one of I think 3 showing the same or close to the same, result.
:):):)
June 26, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
It takes somebody as "special" as Johnny to make Kay be actually the more intelligent Senator from Teas.
June 26, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Huh, while looking for the Big Bad John video, I found it...
with commentary.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35mpAwMOlT4
June 26, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
hmm. Sad to say, but I think the added Text on that ad will actually HELP John Cornyn.
As discussed earlier, getting an A by the NRA is not going to hurt you in Texas!
June 26, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I kinda noticed that myself. It's hard to nail a guy in Texas for being in the pocket of Big Oil. They kinda like that down there. :(
June 26, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be like attacking a candidate in Wisconsin for being in the dairy business.
June 26, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
That Noriega is only 2 points behind Cornyn is not nearly as surprising as the fact that Obama is only 5 points behind McCain in Texas.
June 26, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
That doesn't surprise me, either.
:)
June 26, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if anyone is going to bother polling the Virginia Senate race any more. While it would be entertaining, I have to admit, it does seem like a waste of money.
June 26, 2008 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Texas is in play -up & down the ticket . Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas in November here in the Lone Star State .
Congressman Noriega is a very attractive candidate - served in Afghanistan - is very facile on national security & economic issues - If any of ya'll can spare some contributions please send some to Noriega's campaign .
I joyously repeat -Texas is in play in the general election - this is not a drill ...
June 26, 2008 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I hope so. Austin is different from San Antonio, where I am.
We felt like the only Democrats in this part of town, until caucus night...that was really fantastic, for Democrats in general and for Obama fans in particular. Big crowds, big excitement.
June 26, 2008 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
i like al franken.
but i'm afraid he's going to cost us that seat, which for any other candidate would probably be a blow out for democrats.
June 26, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, I wish the minn dems would have put someone else up. Franken just isn't cut out for the senate. It's hard to picture it.
However, how about Texas. I bet a lunch big, bad John goes down. He is a buffoon. Also, Texas is totally in play. Obama may lose it, but it will be a squeaker. Look out Texas may be going purple. If people would only freaking vote. Please Texans vote for God's sake.
June 26, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope Franken wins and if he does I'll be the first to come correct, but...
That race was the low-lying apple of '08.
June 26, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Minnesotans are particular. In '06 it was a big Dem blowout, except for governor. The DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor party) insisted on endorsing the wrong candidate.
This year for some reason it was not much of a contest to get the Sen. nomination. Not sure why more hats weren't thrown in. So we have Franken. His only shot is an enormous coat tail from Obama.
On the other hand we have interesting challengers for Congress in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th. Watch these.
June 26, 2008 10:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah. The DFL is weird that way. I'm not a big fan, but I vote for their people. (except in the St Paul Mayoral primary a few years ago. Elizabeth!)
June 27, 2008 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
My US rep Betty! was a Franken pooh-pooh-er at the convention a few weeks ago. I'm not confident that Al can take Normie down. Jesse The Mind could. He reportedly (per former Senator Barkley) doesn't like either of them. I don't foresee Obama taking much interest in Franken. Thanks, DFL.
June 27, 2008 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Er, I'm not sure that Musgrove leading in Mississippi is such good news. He was that religious nut involved in the Ten Commandments idiocy, wasn't he? We don't need Democrats like that!
I'm not proposing a litmus test for Democrats, since I don't suppose I agree with anyone about everything, but some things - such as freedom of religion and the strict separation of church and state - are just too important. We've had so much religious idiocy in the White House for almost eight years that we certainly can't support it in the Democratic Party!
June 27, 2008 8:34 AM | Reply | Permalink