Public Policy Polling: GOP losing "Moderate voters" by wider margin than McCain did in '08

[WI_DEM]

(This could be a good democratic year if Dems fool the pollsters and actually do get out and vote!)

In 12 of the 13 US Senate races we have polled in the last two months the GOP candidate is actually losing moderate voters by a wider margin than John McCain did in 2008.

The only exception to that rule is Illinois Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who has had to battle attacks on his ethics, and leads Mark Kirk only 33-27 among moderates. In all the rest of the races we've polled the GOP candidate trailed by at least 21 points with moderates, and the average comes out to 27 points.

3 of the 4 Republican candidates trailing by the most with moderates are Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Marbo Rubio who have been the candidates most closely associated with the Tea Party movement. Angle's and Paul's races should have been slam dunks for the GOP but the characteristics that helped the two to win their primaries are hurting their appeal to middle of the road voters in the general election.

Of course you might wonder why is the GOP doing so well nationally if it's losing the center and it's because conservative voters are more energized and likely to make up a much larger portion of the electorate than they did in 2008- or that they will in 2012. That strategy could help the party win this year but whether it's a long term strategy that can keep people voting Republican under less dire economic conditions remains to be seen.

One thing's clear- Republicans didn't learn enough about how to win in Obama states from the highly successful campaigns of Brown, Christie, and McDonnell.

Here's the full data:

State
GOP Candidate
Deficit With Moderates

Maryland
James Rutledge
44

Nevada
Sharron Angle
36

Florida
Marco Rubio
35

Kentucky
Rand Paul
34

North Carolina
Richard Burr
32

California
Carly Fiorina
27

Pennsylvania
Pat Toomey
26

Wisconsin
Ron Johnson
26

Ohio
Rob Portman
25

Washington
Dino Rossi
25

Louisiana
David Vitter
22

New Hampshire
Kelly Ayotte
21

Illinois
Mark Kirk
6

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/

[babylonsister]

1. I'm heartbroken!

:spray:

[RBInMaine]

2. THIS is how you get Indies: ATTACK The RePUKES as the TeaAsshats that they are. Most mods don't

like the TeaRadicals.

[RBInMaine]

3. Also attack the ReTHUGS as "Bushism/Wallstreet Policy Lovers." That resonates too.

[mediaman007]

4. The election is about 12 weeks out.

The GOP shouldn't be so sure about its victory. Twelve weeks is a long time. Issues may arise that no one has considered yet.

(Surely 12 weeks is enough time for the teabaggers to do more stupid things.)

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jennicut]

6. This election comes down to one thing and that is whether moderates and Dems will actually vote.

[BlueIdaho]

7. Where oh where is the MSM on this story?

Nowhere because the truth doesn't support the "narrative" they are trying to advance.

Boy do I miss journalism.

[Dawson Leery]

8. At this time in 2002, the Democrats

were expected to win back the house with a respectable margin and gain 3 Senate seats.
How did that turn out?

[bigdarryl]

9. BUT than the writer goes on to say the rethugs are going to have a very good election year

GO FIGURE!!!! sounds like double talk to me he's just trying to once again say the democrats will not do good