Some key findings from the new Rasmussen poll on Virginia:
Mark Warner leads Jim Gilmore 53%-38% in a match up for U.S. Senate.
As the de facto incumbent in this race — both in having been more recently elected statewide to office (leaving office in Jan. ‘06 with an approval rating of around 70 percent) and the number of people who already confuse him with John Warner — Marky Mark sitting at 53 percent right now isn’t all that impressive. Couple that with his campaign being completely devoid of issues other than “GO HOKIES” and “Merry Christmas” and the fact that he has never won an election where issues were central to the campaign, no one should be counting their chickens before they hatch. That isn’t to say that Gilmore or Marshall will have it easy, but there is plenty of room for them to make their own opportunities here.
84% of Virginia voters believe English should be the official language of the United States.
74% believe companies should be allowed to require employees to speak English while on the job.
55% believe ballots should be printed in English only, while 39% say they should printed in both English and Spanish.
Those issues all break for the GOP and can be used effectively against Marky Mark.
Finally, there is the presidential race in Virginia.
McCain 49% Clinton 38%
McCain 45% Obama 43%
Romney 44% Clinton 43%
A GOP victory in the presidential race will boost our senate nominee. And if the Dem nominee is Sen. Clinton, Marky Mark will be faced with either embracing her or running away from her, neither of which is a pleasant option for him politically.
Filed under: 2008 Elections, Bob Marshall, Jim Gilmore, Marky Mark
Gov. Warner is seriously vulnerable if that is the best he can do. As this economy tightens up the citizens will be voting their wallets, and Gilmore has the clear advantage of Warner on the issue of taxes, national security, and quite frankly are the people of Virginia willing to pad Sen. Harry Reid’s margins any more to insure that he can raise taxes?