POLL: Which Democrat would be the toughest to beat for US Senate?
By Jason Kenney | Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 | PoliticsWith today’s announcement from Jim Webb that he will not be seeking re-election to Senate, buzz has begun on who will vie to take his place as the Democratic nominee. Tim Kaine? Tom Perriello? Krystle Ball? So many options available.
Now, knowing our readership, simply asking “who” the nominee should be might be a bit misleading. Will you be voting for who you think the Democrats will want to run or who you want to lose against whoever the eventual Republican nominee will be? So let’s take a different approach.
Take a step back and look at this objectively. Which potential Democratic nominee would have the best shot at the general come November 2012? Who will be the toughest to beat no matter who the Republican nominee is?
Feel free to add additional nominees and even start speculating on possible match-ups in the comments.
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About the author
Jason Kenney has blogged at J’s Notes since 2001, is the director of RedStormPAC providing online fundraising for Republican candidates in Virginia, and co-founder of K6 Consulting. He is a graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University and resides in Richmond, Virginia.
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24 Responses to "POLL: Which Democrat would be the toughest to beat for US Senate?"
Terry is the hardest because he has no record to study, and has access to gobs of money.
Also, T-Mac doesn’t have the Obama baggage and the Clinton baggage has likely faded.
Krystal Ball because she won’t go down without a fight!
Tom Perriello. Hands down, the toughest candidate the Democrats could field.
T-Mac might be interesting, but (1) he’s already shopped around for the Dem nod for Governor in 2013, and (2) I can’t imagine even Democratic voters putting up with the constant shopping for any elected position available…
George Allen
Without a doubt… Perriello. Frighteningly good.
Perriello. He is relatively young, has name recognition,is capable of positioning himself as a moderate, and could accrue a cornucopia of funds (in and out-of-state).
Oh, and did I mention he won’t go down without a fight? *snicker*
Doug Wilder (or any Dem like him).
Fortunately for the Repubs he is not interested and I guess too old. Fortunately also for the Repubs there aren’t any other Dems like him anymore.
With Webb out I think even George Allen can win although not in convincing fashion.
BTW What a sad useless Senator Jim Webb turned out to be. And he could have been excellent.
Scott Surovell just twittered
perriello.
youth, earnestness, friendliness, energy, buckets of money, knowledge of federal issues, OFA & Obama. & Obama will improve his brand by 2012 & get out his voters.
his bad votes obviously didn’t deter the Bible belt of Virginia because he told them he was “fighting for them” (and his 3.7% loss was not a reflection on Hurt–Perriello is just that good of a campaigner).
but i keep hearing the Dems will nominate Kaine. whew
Rick Boucher — A southern Virginian with good ties to the liberals in NOVA, good fund raiser and not too scary on the social issues.
Tom Perriello terrifies me.
Peter: Given the Deeds disaster, I’d guess it will be along time before the Northern Virginia wing of the Dem party agrees to another statewide nominee from the Western part of the state, so that hurts Boucher’s chances. He probably would be tough in a general election.
how will the Dems choose their nominee? that is the 1st hurdle for them.
I would throw out Chap Peterson’s name. He would be tough.
Gerry Connolly – now that’s the ticket!
Everyone needs to go over to Blue VA and vote in their poll for Don McEachin. That would be so awsome if he were the nominee.
Seriously though, I agree with Credo, Chap scares the hell out of me. Luckily, Dems would never nominate him.
Perriello is scary with Obama on the ticket. With any other Dem, he’d lose badly.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Aimee Fausser and Jeffersoniad, Reed Shaw. Reed Shaw said: Virginia Republicans agree that @draftperriello would be toughest Democrat to beat in #vasen: http://bit.ly/gwqqqW [...]
Coby: with Obama on the ballot of the Dem side and Allen on the ballot on the GOP side, any Democrat would have shot.
Steve,
You’re going to tell me that Krystal Ball has a shot with Obama and Allen on the ticket?
I do Scott. Imagine what a Dem group could do as long as they use the disclaimer of not being done with Ball’s campaign’s approval.
First you dredge up macaca and all of Allen’s nooses, etc. Then you open up with a picture of Obama and you hear “..and now he wants to return to the seat that Virginians fired him from. To do what?……….to oppose Pres. Barrack Obama.”
Then it goes to a close up of Obama and family.
Yea……I think any Dem would have a shot against Allen.
Scott: Okay. I guess I meant any serious Democratic candidate has a shot. I don’t consider someone who failed to get the Dem base vote in her district in a losing run for Congress a serious candidate.
Allen loses against any credible Democrat. The Democratic nominee will be Tim Kaine or Tom Perriello. Don’t bother fantasizing about other candidates. Allen is washed up. I saw him at the Virginia Tea Party convention and believe me: the man is several years beyond his expiration date.
Now, if the Republicans nominate someone else, an outsider, a Republican “Webb” if you will, then it becomes a lot harder to predict. Get creative: who is a GOP outsider who could come from nowhere and get the GOP nomination?
Chap Peterson would be formidable. He’s very well liked in NOVA and his family has been around for several hundred years.
I’ve seen Allen several times over the last year. He is most definitely NOT ‘washed up’. He’s tan, rested, and ready!
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