Posted on 10/11/2006 5:42:55 PM PDT by okstate
October 11, 2006 - Nelson Leads Harris 61 - 33 In Florida Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Say U.S. Is Losing The War In Iraq
In the Florida Senate race, Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has a commanding 61 - 33 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris among likely voters, including leaners, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Six percent are undecided and 18 percent of likely voters who name a candidate say they could change their mind in the next four weeks.
Sen. Nelson leads Rep. Harris 56 - 31 percent among registered voters, with 11 percent undecided. This compares to a 61 - 24 percent Nelson lead in a July 27 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.
In this latest survey, Republican likely voters back Harris 67 - 27 percent, while Democrats back Nelson 85 - 10 percent and independent voters back Nelson 65 - 26 percent.
"Congresswoman Harris has made some progress in her race against Sen. Nelson, but with four weeks until the election, it isn't nearly enough to make her a serious threat to the incumbent," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Floridians, by almost a two-to-one margin, still view her unfavorably - an indication of just how difficult a task she faces. In order to win, she'll have to convince Floridians she is not who they think she is."
Only 20 percent of Florida voters have a favorable opinion of Harris, with 37 percent unfavorable, 16 percent mixed and 26 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion.
Nelson gets a 31 - 12 percent favorability, with 19 percent mixed and 38 percent who haven't heard enough to form an opinion.
"For a politician who has held statewide office for more than a decade, Sen. Nelson's profile is surprisingly fuzzy. Four in 10 voters say they need to know more about him before they can decide if they view him favorably or unfavorably," Brown said.
"But it doesn't matter because Congresswoman Harris is so weak. She is losing a quarter of the Republican vote and more than 60 percent of the independent vote and getting only half of the white evangelical vote - a recipe for electoral disaster for a Republican in Florida."
Bush Approval
Florida voters disapprove 59 - 37 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing. Voters say 55 - 28 percent that the U.S. is losing the war in Iraq, and 44 - 39 percent that the U.S. is losing the war on worldwide terrorism.
From October 3 - 8, Quinnipiac University surveyed 968 Florida registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. The survey includes 783 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.
totally agree
with Florida there is no way she could win statewide after 2000
she and the Republicans knew it and it is an embarrassment Florida Republicans couldn't find a decent candidate in the whole state
I have seen her quite a few times on TV interviews and she comes off as a lightweight ditz
I know better but then I'm a diehard Republican
If she is losing 25% of the republican votes, those people arent Republicans. They are crapheads.
"Leaners" are likely voters!?! Not in midterms..No, I think not.
Nothing will make them happy re. Harris.
for some reason, some FReepers have abandoned her and the conservatives who have nominated her.
You can easily note that you see nothing of the sort from them about Ivey (Pa) who will lose to Murtha by a landslide, according to the same Media.
I don't understand it either. She has always been the underdog, it p*sses me off when I see people bellyaching that she is not doing well.
You'll notice a lot of her detractors are GWB's detractors also.
Not a real surprise. She hasn't run a good campaign and has never had much of a chance. Shame we couldn't have come up with a better nominee.
>independent voters back Nelson 65 - 26 percent.
KOD
It simply boggles my mind that people on a political board actually cannot understand what a STRAW POLL is.
Whatever other biases they may have, Quinnipac at least attempted to contact a random sample of people across the state.
The poll that Harris won was whoever happened to be walking by at a picnic in Tampa. You do understand such polls are completely worthless and irrelevant, right?
I hate seeing people living in such a delusional fantasyland.
They did. Her name is Harris.
Look, these gloom-and-doom polls are nothing new to Harris. The FL media really has it in for her. These polls came out during her initial Congressional race too.
Funny how polls are suddenly believable when it concerns Harris. The same polls about Bush, FReepers would be screaming "BARF ALERT!"
No one else wanted to run against Harris up until the last second when 3 no-names appeared from thin air. She won her primary fair and square. Jeb Bush, General Franks, Speaker Bense, etc. all the FL GOP heavy hitters DECLINED to run for this seat. How can you people sit up here and whine and believe in these biased polls. You know the media and these polling groups hate Harris. I thought FR was better than that.
Short of photos of Bill Nelson wearing a Cuban army uniform having sex with an underage boy surfacing before the election, I'm really curious exactly how much drugs someone would have to take to think Harris would have had any chance of running a remotely competitive race even with infinite amounts of monetary support.
As I've said before people are incapable of seeing things from the perspective of an undecided or swing voter.
why couldn't the gop support a loyal decent woman who did her job in the 2000 election that was vilified by the lib/dems & msm and has gotten no better treatment from the republicans????
The 50% of Republican voters who elected Harris in the primary were on drugs?
Either that or simply exceedingly stupid.
Is this a DU thread?
Yep. Lets not forget all the Terribots who believed that "Crist couldn't win!"
The disgrace is that republicans arent supporting her
Just for the record, if I lived in Florida I would vote for her against a democrat without a second thought.
There's poll bias and then there's POLL BIAS.
Even if a left-leaning organization at least makes an attempt to do a legitimate scientific poll with a large sample size that's randomized across the state, they're not going to generate a 30 point or even a 15 point error. None of the polls before the 2004 or 2000 election for any sort of State or National office were even remotely THAT wrong this close to an election.
To just petulantly assert that ALL POLLS ARE RONG! over and over again regarding Harris is approaching Baghdad Bob levels of delusionality.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.