Posted on 08/05/2009 10:16:21 AM PDT by stan_sipple
Stunning figures in a new Gallup Poll paint Nebraska as a competitive political battleground in which Democrats might even hold a tiny edge.
Democratic State Chairman Vic Covalt of Lincoln hailed the numbers Tuesday and said they'll help him recruit a strong candidate to challenge Gov. Dave Heineman next year.
Republican Chairman Mark Fahleson of Lincoln dismissed the results as "a post-election euphoric snapshot" that would not hold up today.
The survey of 1,035 Nebraskans during the first six months of 2009 showed 43 percent favoring Democrats and 42 percent favoring Republicans.
That prompted Gallup to move Nebraska from a "lean Republican" state in 2008 to a "competitive" state.
The results suggested a dramatic turnaround from 2008 election results in Nebraska and run counter to a heavy Republican voter registration advantage over Democrats.
Reading between the lines, Gallup's figures reflect a strong tilt toward Democrats by Nebraska's registered independents.
Although registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by 165,000 in Nebraska, Democrats and registered independents together surpass the number of Republicans in the state.
Despite the narrow Democratic advantage in the Gallup results, Nebraska still tied with North Dakota as the seventh strongest Republican state in the survey.
Fahleson pointed to the daily Rasmussen Reports tracking poll to demonstrate that President Barack Obama's approval rating has been steadily sagging since June.
The latest survey showed 50 percent approval and 48 percent disapproval.
Obama's job approval rating in Gallup's daily national survey stood at 56 percent on Tuesday compared with 38 percent disapproval.
But his approval rating had slipped from 62 percent in June.
"I'm quite confident if the (Nebraska) poll was taken today, it would show different numbers," Fahleson said.
"If this is evidence of a resurgence of the Nebraska Democratic Party, where are their candidates?" he asked.
"No challengers to the governor. No candidates for the other constitutional offices."
Covalt said he's zeroing in on several Democratic gubernatorial prospects now.
"Governor Heineman is very, very beatable," he said.
"The governor is a great politician, but he's a bad governor."
Democrats will challenge Heineman's record on caring for "the weak and vulnerable developmentally disabled population," Covalt said, as well as road construction and management of state government.
Gallup's figures reflect "a rapidly changing political landscape" in Nebraska, Covalt said.
"I like these numbers," he said.
It would be nice to replace Nelson so we have only Republicans representing the state of Nebraska.
Yes, especially since we replaced the liberal Democrat Hagel.
Yup, Hagel was bad. Glad he is gone.
The Nebraska GOP is as much responsibility in Nelson as anyone. Many in the party supported Nelson over the GOP candidate last time around. It was infuriating. He was a crap governor with a crap hairdo and is a crap senator...period.
LOL
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