The Arkansas blogosphere has been chatty about a new Public Policy Polling poll on the Arkansas Second Congressional District race involving Democratic Party incumbent Vic Snyder. The poll shows Mr. Snyder with an approval rating of forty-two percent. Forty-six percent of second district voters disapprove of his performance.
Not unlike recent polls involving incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln, Mr. Snyder appears to be bearing the brunt of voter frustration with Congress.
But to show you how little this poll actually has to do with Mr. Snyder, forty-two percent of respondents said they would vote for David Meeks, an unknown candidate living in Conway with an affinity for silly looking neck ties. I can assure you of this: if the election were between Mr. Snyder and Mr. Meeks, the margin of victory would be substantially greater than this poll predicts.
All of this is to say that despite this poll, Mr. Snyder remains a strong candidate in the second district. Once voters – particularly the self-described independents – have a chance to evaluate their options, you’ll see these numbers tick back up.