Poll: McDonnell Has Obamaesque Favorable Ratings
A fascinating Daily Kos/Research 2000 survey issued today shows that GOPer Bob McDonnell, who resigned as AG to run fulltime for governor, has the advantage over each of his possible Dem challengers in a general election match-up -- and his favorable ratings are also solidly higher than his rivals.
The poll, conducted from 5/18-20, shows McDonnell has Barack Obama-like favorables, in fact -- 53% of those surveyed said they have a very favorable or favorable view of McDonnell, compared with 58% who said the same of the president. Just three weeks before the 6/9 primary, the Dems vying for the party's nomination, fared more poorly: 37% said they have a very favorable or favorable view of Terry McAuliffe, and 35% said as much of Brian Moran and state Sen. Creigh Deeds.
Meanwhile, McDonnell would defeat McAuliffe in a general election, 44% to 34%. The GOP nom would trump Moran, 42% to 35%, and best Deeds, 45% to 32%.
If the Dem primary contest were held today, McAuliffe, who has aired a half dozen television ads, would garner 36% of the vote, compared with 22% for Moran and 13% for Deeds. Some 29% are undecided still. McAuliffe has the edge with black voters, 33% to Moran's 16% and Deeds' 2%, but a whopping 49% remain undecided -- even after Pres. Clinton stumped for pal McAuliffe, the onetime head of the DNC.
Digging into the general election numbers, there's one big bright spot for the Dems: vote-rich Northern Virginia. There, McDonnell trails McAuliffe by 25 percentage points, Moran by 24, and Deeds by 22. Fairfax, Prince William and Loudon counties comprised more than one-fifth of the statewide vote in last year's general election.
The poll has a margin of error of 4%.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Oh, good grief! This isn't to be taken seriously!
Wait until the Democrats have a candidate, and he gets going. Then you'll see the little right-winger go plunging.
Virginia used to be knee-jerk Red. It's increasingly tending Blue. I predict a Democrat (probably Terry McAuliffe) will win in November. And, fer sure, that's a good thing!
K,
sorry to disagree with you but regardless of who the democrats nominate, and I agree with yout it will be t-mac, they will have their hands full against bob.
t-mac doesnt even have anything to do with Virginian politics, for democrats to have a chance to win this election they should vote for deeds.
Oh man, I sincerly hope that McDonnell pulls through with a win in VA. His economic plans to bring more tax revenue into VA without raising taxes is exactly what VA needs in this current economic climate. What we don't need is far left wingers raising our taxes while somehow, at the same time, managing to raise VA's climbing deficit. Hopefully, we don't end up looking like the U.S. deficit, and with Bob McDonnell as governor of VA, he will lead us in the right direction fiscally.
I think this poll says more about the Democrats in the race than it does Bob McDonnell. As the article points out, Terry McAuliffe has low favorables and high unfavorables despite such high profile endorsements as Bill Clinton and Will.i.am. Also, the primaries are usually packed with the devout and the politicos, which by and large have actually supported Brian Moran more than any other Democrat. There are still a few weeks to go, but I predict Moran for Democratic candidate, and McDonnell for Governor.
McDonnell, by the way, is in favor of opening a nuclear power plant in the Commonwealth and drilling offshore. Not only would this create thousands of jobs both in the short and long term, it would make Virginia a national leader in energy production.
Terry McAualiff or any other democratic canadate won't win Virginia anymore.
If a Democratic canadite wins I'm outta here. That would mean we are a communist state.
This is a no contest race....McDonnell is so much more competent than any of the other candidates. That's a fact. This guy is more about boosting Virginia's economy than any Lib will ever be. Libs are just concerned with expanding government. Go McDonnell! We're getting VA back!
Why can't poll numbers speak for themselves. Is it really necessary to drag into a Republican poll the attributes, or lack of, in our current president. Just report the damn facts. Thank you very much
Jim Byrnes
"Barack Obama-like?" Doesn't that say it all? McDonnell's best hope is to be linked to Barack Obama, who is popular because he is a good person, not to mention a true intellectual problem solver and excellent communicator.
To link them in any way is an insult to Barack Obama.
Great news! His personal story is incredible and so is his political record from all accounts I've read both on the left and right. And I can tell that Democrats are terrorfied of Republicans like him because he's extremely likeable and popular with Virginians. And as a fellow Northern Virginian I think he best represents Northern Virginia Republicans who are socially moderate and fiscally conservative. The huge number of attacks I've seen on him from the Democrats is also getting pretty ridiculous and desperate. They post web ads all over the place comparing him to Rush Limbaugh and Bush as if people in Virginia care about that kind of negative dirty campaign BS. It just makes them look bad and if they actually wanted to beat him they should run on the positives of their own campiagn rather than trying to demonize a war hero and family man. I look forward to voting day and the election results since I'm pretty sure McDonnell is going to win by a huge margin.