Poll: Jones fails to raise awareness (CA GOP Senate candidate)

[Ediacara]

Poll: Jones fails to raise awareness
Former secretary of state has yet to capture attention in the Senate race.

By Alexa H. Bluth -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, August 7, 2004

Although U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's double-digit lead has dipped slightly, Republican challenger Bill Jones has failed to make a significant impression on voters after five months of campaigning for the Nov. 2 election, according to a new statewide Field Poll.

Half of likely voters said they have no opinion of former Secretary of State Jones, despite his recent appearances with Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The Democratic senator leads Jones among likely voters by 50 percent to 33 percent, according to the survey. Seventeen percent said they support another candidate or were undecided.

More at the Sacramento Bee

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Jones was a good Secretary of State, but he's not very exciting

Bill Jones ran the Secretary of State's office efficiently and honestly. Although a Republican, he would never have been caught dead doing the sort of things that were done in Florida and didn't hesitate to use the Florida fiasco as a reason that some kind of reform is needed.

Jones really isn't a good politician. Initially a supporter of Bush in 2000, he switched to McCain during the primaries in reaction to Bush's distasteful campaign tactics. While we must be sympathetic to Jones in this, it wasn't a good career move.

Ironically, Jones is probably being hurt now at least in part by Bush's unpopularity in California. Arnold is popular here for now, but it is personal popularity and won't transfer to other Republicans. Bush's unpopularity is the kind of thing that will put Republicans at a disadvantage.

Senator Boxer will win re-election easily.

[David__77]

2. But Jones was anti-Latino and played Dornan's game in 1998/9.

There were no credible allegations of "massive illegal immigrant voting" in Orange County when fascist Rep. Bob Dornan was defeated, but Bill Jones played along and launched an "investigation" complete with politicized press releases and cooperation with DC Republicans. For this, I have forever decided he is a creep.