Senator Blanche Lincoln has an approval rating of 36% according to a poll released by Public Policy Polling. This has Arkie Republican bloggers – from Jason Tolbert to David Sanders to David Kinkade to Kenneth Ryan James – eager, excited and blogging away.
Patience, young Jedi.
Ms. Lincoln’s numbers will rebound when voters take the time to evaluate the race. Right now, a substantial majority of Arkansas voters are royally pissed off about everything happening in Washington, and they’ve got no one to point a finger at except Sen. Lincoln (they’ve hated Barack Obama from the get-go). But when forced to reflect on her time in the Senate and her role in shaping agriculture policy – a critical issue in Arkansas – among others, you’ll see influencers begin to speak out and voters come back.
(For example, how quickly people forget respected Republican and Arkansas Farm Bureau president Stanley Reed’s very favorable public comments about Sen. Lincoln and how much a “friend” she is to the Arkansas farmer.)
Not all of them will, of course, but at this early juncture it’s difficult to view these head-to-head poll numbers with any belief in their accuracy. They’re reactionary; evidence of nothing more than voter frustration that will, I believe, subside over the next year. Stated another way: there is no way blogger Curtis Coleman, vaccine advocate, is within the margin of error.
Once the slate of Republican candidates settles – and it better settle quickly – we’ll have a better grasp of Ms. Lincoln’s numbers. As Max Brantley noted, races are about match-ups. Until there’s a legitimate match-up, and by that I mean Gilbert Baker or Tom Cotton officially enter this race, then we don’t know anything at all.
[...] As She Goes: Blake Rutherford says “cool your jets” on those terrible Blanche Lincoln poll numbers. (Blake’s Think [...]
You have to wonder if many of the people giving her low marks are liberal Democrats unhappy that she is not supporting the public option strongly. She is one of the Senators holding it up in committee.
Actually, looking at the poll, I realized I was one of the people who was polled. In fact, I am a liberal democrat (which they gave only 13% weight in the poll) and I said I was unsure about her approval because I disapprove of her helping to slow down the health care bill and the fact that she is not supporting the public option (at least openly). So, I can tell you for a fact that the statement I made above is true.
Actually, looking at the poll, I realized I was one of the people who was polled. In fact, I am a liberal democrat (which they gave only 13% weight in the poll) and I said I was unsure about her approval because I disapprove of her helping to slow down the health care bill and the fact that she is not supporting the public option (at least openly). So, I can tell you for a fact that her low approval numbers are partially due to liberal democrats upset that she is not strongly supporting a public option.
To further prove my point only 66% of liberals approve of her job performance with 18% disapproving and 16% unsure.
I disagree. They have many more to blame than Lincoln and they are actively holding Pryor, Boozman, Snyder, Ross & Berry accountable at town hall meetings, in letters, in phone calls, in faxes. Just ask any of those offices how their volume of constituent contact has exploded in the past few months. I see all of these guys being targeted in 2010, with the obvious exception of Pryor, but even Pryor is catching plenty of heat for his form letters (which are being shared online so people can compare) and his wimpy-way-out tele town hall meetings during this break. I smell a distinct “no incumbent” stench in the air, regardless of party, and I love it.
With such low name id for the Repubs in this poll makes me wonder the results if Trevor Drown was included. I am hearing his name everywhere. The Repubs have to be worried.
[...] as a boon to Republicans that want to believe incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln is vulnerable. A recent poll by Public Policy Polling showed Sen. Lincoln’s approval numbers in the mid [...]
Excellent response
Trevor is mentioned in almost all the major polls. He’s under the column “Others”.