Posted on 02/05/2009 9:18:39 PM PST by GOPGuide
Thursday, February 05, 2009 Email to a FriendAdvertisement Republican Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell has a three-to-nine point lead against three hopefuls for the Democratic nomination in this year’s closely-watched Virginia gubernatorial contest.
McDonnell, who announced this week that he will step down from his post on February 20 to campaign full-time for governor, bested only one of the three Democrats in early December.
Now, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows the lone Republican gubernatorial candidate topping his best-known opponent, Terry McAuliffe, by seven points, 42% to 35%. In December, he held a five-point edge over McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton confidant, major Democratic fund-raiser and former national party chairman.
McDonnell is even further ahead of Rep. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County – 39% to 30%. The two men were tied two months ago.
Brian J. Moran, a former state delegate from Alexandria, led McDonnell by four points in the earlier survey but now trails by three, 39% to 36%.
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It’s still early in the political season, however, with a large percentage of Virginia voters not aware enough of any of the candidates to express a favorable or unfavorable opinion about them. Fewer than a third have strong feelings about any of the candidates.
Fifty percent (50%) of the state’s voters have a favorable view of McDonnell, with 16% very favorable. Only 18% view him unfavorably, just four percent with a very unfavorable opinion. Thirty-two percent (32%) have no opinion.
For Deeds, his favorables are 30%, with eight percent (8%) very favorable, and his unfavorables are 29%, seven percent (7%) very unfavorable. Forty-one percent (41%) are unsure what they think of Deeds, who lost his bid for attorney general to McDonnell in 2005 in a race so close it required a recount.
Thirty-two percent (32%) have a favorable opinion of Moran, with nine percent (9%) very favorable, and 33% view him unfavorably, including 11% who say their view is very unfavorable. Thirty-five percent (35%) are not sure what their opinion is of Moran.
McAuliffe, a businessman who now lives in northern Virginia, is viewed favorably by 34%, with 12% very favorable, and unfavorably by 39%, including 19% very unfavorable. Just 27% aren’t sure what they think of McAuliffe.
McDonnell’s and Moran’s numbers are largely unchanged from the earlier survey, while both Deeds’ and McAuliffe’s have deteriorated slightly.
Among Democratic voters, Moran runs best against McDonnell in the new survey.
Virginia’s current governor, Tim Kaine, also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is prohibited by law from seeking a second term. Virginia Democrats will pick among the three contenders for his job in a June primary.
For now, McAuliffe has slightly better favorables than Moran among Democratic voters, with Deeds fairly close behind. But McAuliffe’s unfavorables also are the highest among the three Democrats.
The race is likely to become clearer after the three men address the state Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner Saturday in Richmond.
Virginia has been trending Democratic in recent years, and the party is hopeful of winning its third governorship in a row here. When Barack Obama carried Virginia last November, he was the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since 1964.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Virginia voters approve of Obama’s performance as president, with 45% who strongly approve. Among the 35% who disapprove of the job he is doing, 20% strongly disapprove. Obama’s overall approval rating in Virginia is better than the numbers he is earning late in the week in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index.
Sixty-one percent (61%) of Virginia voters approve of Kaine’s performance as governor, including 25% who strongly approve. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disapprove; of this group, 19% strongly disapprove.
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Good.
But he’s quiting? So Kaine will appoint a rat?
oh, lookie.....a pubbie is besting bubba’s butt boy
After the 3 Dems bash each other to pieces in the primary, he will sweep in.
:crosses fingers no sex, tax, nanny problems:
Looks like a little of the bloom is off Hussein’s rose, eh?
The Dems and Terry McAuliffe will steal this like they and Al Franken are trying to steal the MN Senate seat.
Just hide and watch.
Ping
And retiring Republican federal attorney Chris Christie has a nine point lead over Governor Corzine in a recent NJ poll for this fall’s race - maybe ‘pubs aren’t quite dead after all.......
The Rats will retain power here in VA.
I truly hope I am wrong but I really think we have reached a tipping point in this country and the Rats actually may end up being our version of the Bolshevik Party. The USSA looms ahead if we do not find a way to educate people quickly.
it is as if we have to keep being reminded that the dems are evil by continually getting them in office and then removing them in the next election.
McAuliffe’s ads are really ticking off people here on the Eastern Shore, and the people he is ticking off are Democrats.
That fact actually makes his disgusting TV ads almost palatable.
I'm not sure. They just barely held on to the county executive slot in liberal Fairfax county. I saw the numbers and was shocked.
Holding an edge and winning will be too different things with Obama’s ACORN running wild.
Virginia Governor’s race ping.
No, by resigning before the end of the General Assembly session, he is allowing the Assembly to pick his replacement. He's got pretty strong assurance that they'll name his Deputy.
To not do that and play partisan politics at this point would backfire on the Dems.
Correct me if I’m wrong Corin, but don’t we usually elect our governor from the party that is out of power in DC?
It's played out that way every year since 1973 when Mills Godwin (a former Democrat) was the last Republican elected when a Republican (Nixon) was in the White House.
It doesn't really count prior to that since, up until 1969 with Holton we weren't electing any Republicans.
Oh good, Republicans have the overall majoirty in the assembly.
This is wonderful news!! The democrats are going to be up against the wall with the appalling behavior of the Congress, not to mention our Dear Leader.
Bob McDonnell won’t win without a fight, but people are becoming more and more alarmed about the balance of power in this country.
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