Rasmussen: Kaine 46%, Allen 45%
By Norman Leahy | Friday, September 30th, 2011 | Politics, VirginiaScott’s poll of 500 likely voters finds Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen “virtually dead even” in the race for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic incumbent Jim Webb. Seven percent are undecided and 3 percent “like some other candidate.”
Just how close are the two men in this poll?
Forty-seven percent (47%) have a favorable opinion of each of them. That includes 21% with a Very Favorable opinion of Kaine and 20% with a Very Favorable view of Allen.
Forty percent (40%) have an unfavorable opinion of Kaine who stepped down as chairman of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year, including 18% who see him Very Unfavorably. Allen is viewed unfavorably by 39%, with 23% who share a Very Unfavorable regard for him. Fourteen percent (14%) of the state’s voters have no opinion of either man.
Those are the kids of numbers you would expect to see for two well-known quantities in Virginia politics. And another item we’ll see and hear a great deal more about in the months ahead is the economy. The bottom line? It’s gloomy out there:
Just four percent (4%) of all Virginia voters now rate the economy as good or excellent, while 59% view it as poor. Only 15% say the economy is getting better. Fifty-six percent (56%) think the economy is getting worse, while 24% say it’s staying about the same.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters in the state say their own finances are good or excellent. Fourteen percent (14%) regard their personal finances as poor.
Even many of those who think they are doing fine are down on the economy as a whole. Call it a lack of animal spirits or, if you’re the President, America getting “soft,” but so long as the perception is that things are bad and may get worse, the politician who puts forward the most plausible solution for righting the economic ship could do quite well next November.
I also suggest that, with all this gloom, there’s a real opening for a candidate who embraces Reagan-like optimism. Or for that matter, FDR’s. America faces very real and growing problems. But candidates who insist on preaching doom or worse, have the aura of doom and its uglier sister, gloom, about them, won’t get very far.
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About the author
Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.
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Comments
7 Responses to "Rasmussen: Kaine 46%, Allen 45%"
Allen has a much better chance against Kaine than Radtke. That being said, how can anyone vote for a guy who is a fake?
Agreed on the optimist vs. doom and gloom… though Americans writ large need a healthy dose of effing reality when it comes to desiring all the services but not wanting to pay for them… and then sloughing it off on future generations in the form of debt.
Good point, Shaun. The liberal mantra this election cycle is going to be their “optimism” in “preserving Social Security and Medicare” as opposed to the Republican “gloom” of cutting it. Republicans have a major communications challenge in convincing the electorate that our entitlements spending is not just unsustainable, but that it cannot be balanced with discretionary spending cuts alone.
The only problem with that Dem strategery is Obama’s own comments about and record in cutting Medicare and putting entitlements on the table in return for a tax on corporate jet owners. Now it is true that Repubs often can’t see the nose on their face no matter how bright red Santa Claus might make it. Or maybe they will be scared to mention it.
I was rather surprised how ineffective the Mediscare and SS snatching attack ads were in the recent pair of Congressional special elections.
Honest mistake. Voters thought the poll was about HERMAN Cain.
Yep. This one will go down to the wire and I predict it won’t be settled on election evening. Both are well known and well liked commodities. For the most part. Each also has more than his share of baggage. This is a rare case where the two candidates go in evenly matched and there is no oxygen in the room for either of them to grab. Watch out for the claws: this is the recipe for a real cat fight.
Having just said that, both Allen and Kaine are much better suited to playing to the crowd, and cheerleading. This puts Kaine at a disadvantage considering he’ll have no choice but to be cheerleading for Obama, who will almost certainly not carry Virginia in 2012. But…just whose team will Allen find himself cheering for? Aye, there’s the rub.
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