West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin’s popularity isn’t translating into enthusiasm for his Senate campaign —instead, disapproval for his party is threatening to derail his special election bid.
A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday shows the Democratic governor losing his lead for the first time against Republican John Raese. The wealthy mining company leader has a 3-point advantage over Manchin, 46 percent to 43 percent, just within the poll's margin of error. Ten percent are still undecided.
A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday shows the Democratic governor losing his lead for the first time against Republican John Raese. The wealthy mining company leader has a 3-point advantage over Manchin, 46 percent to 43 percent, just within the poll's margin of error. Ten percent are still undecided.
Manchin, who’s in his sixth year as governor, still gets high marks in the Mountaineer State — 59 percent approve of his performance, which PPP notes is the second-highest favorability of any governor it has measured this year. And the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who both candidates are vying to succeed, still evokes positive feelings from respondents — 68 percent said they approved of the nine-term lawmaker’s work for the state and 52 percent said they wanted the next senator to carry on his legacy.
But what seems to be dragging Manchin down is President Obama’s unpopularity in the Democratic state and resistance to his agenda, particularly on health care reform. Sixty-four percent said they disapprove of Obama’s performance as president, and 63 percent said they opposed his health care reform legislation.
“There are a lot of voters in West Virginia who like Joe Manchin but don’t like the national Democratic party and right now those feelings about Barack Obama and national Democrats are driving their vote intent,” PPP President Dean Debnam wrote in his analysis of the poll.
Raese, who has already spent $500,000 of his own money on his campaign, premiered a new television ad Tuesday that zeroes in on that exact point, slamming Manchin for his support for health care reform.
“Sorry Joe, seniors can’t afford you to be a rubber stamp for Barack Obama,” the narrator says.
Manchin has been critical of Raese’s self-funding and has said the businessman is working to “buy an election,” saying Raese attempted to do the same thing when he challenged Byrd in 2006, losing in a landslide.
It’s the second poll in as many days that’s shown the race tighter than many had once forecasted. On Monday, a Rasmussen Reports survey gave Manchin a 7-point lead. But like PPP, the Rasmussen survey found Manchin still widely regarded in the state, with Obama’s approvals sagging. The governor’s approval rating was at 69 percent in that poll, but Obama’s disapproval rating stood at 64 percent, and the same percentage of respondents said they favored repeal of the health care bill.
The Public Policy Polling survey was conducted Sept. 18-19 and tested 1,397 likely voters with a 2.6 percent margin of error.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42494.html
But what seems to be dragging Manchin down is President Obama’s unpopularity in the Democratic state and resistance to his agenda, particularly on health care reform. Sixty-four percent said they disapprove of Obama’s performance as president, and 63 percent said they opposed his health care reform legislation.
“There are a lot of voters in West Virginia who like Joe Manchin but don’t like the national Democratic party and right now those feelings about Barack Obama and national Democrats are driving their vote intent,” PPP President Dean Debnam wrote in his analysis of the poll.
Raese, who has already spent $500,000 of his own money on his campaign, premiered a new television ad Tuesday that zeroes in on that exact point, slamming Manchin for his support for health care reform.
“Sorry Joe, seniors can’t afford you to be a rubber stamp for Barack Obama,” the narrator says.
Manchin has been critical of Raese’s self-funding and has said the businessman is working to “buy an election,” saying Raese attempted to do the same thing when he challenged Byrd in 2006, losing in a landslide.
It’s the second poll in as many days that’s shown the race tighter than many had once forecasted. On Monday, a Rasmussen Reports survey gave Manchin a 7-point lead. But like PPP, the Rasmussen survey found Manchin still widely regarded in the state, with Obama’s approvals sagging. The governor’s approval rating was at 69 percent in that poll, but Obama’s disapproval rating stood at 64 percent, and the same percentage of respondents said they favored repeal of the health care bill.
The Public Policy Polling survey was conducted Sept. 18-19 and tested 1,397 likely voters with a 2.6 percent margin of error.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42494.html