December 06, 2005
More bad news for DeLay

Ooh, this has to hurt.


CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. 803 Adults (713 Registered Voters). December 1-4, 2005. MoE +/- 4%

If Tom DeLay runs for re-election in 2006, in general, are you more likely to vote for the Republican candidate Tom DeLay or for the Democratic Party's candidate for Congress?

Tom DeLay: 36%
The Democrat: 49%

Voters' Opinion of Tom DeLay:

Favorable: 37%
Unfavorable: 52%
Unfamiliar: 11%

Based on what you have heard or read, do you think the charges against DeLay are definitely true, probably true, probably not true, or definitely not true?

Definitely True: 15%
Probably True: 40%
Probably False: 26
Definitely False: 8%


Ouch. As I've noted before, DeLay has been underperforming in his district since at least 2002. With all the scandals and other bad karma surrounding him, it's no wonder his numbers stink.

Kos wonders why they didn't poll the straight-up match between DeLay and Nick Lampson. Via BOR, the CNN story answers that:


However, the poll also showed that voters in the district were, at this point, largely unfamiliar with the most prominent of DeLay's potential Democratic opponents, former Rep. Nick Lampson.

Asked their opinion of Lampson, 61 percent of registered voters said they were unfamiliar with him, while 28 percent viewed him favorably and 11 percent unfavorably.


So Lampson's job is clear: Make sure the voters know who he is, and make sure they realize he's a fine alternative to the bagman they're saddled with now. Oh, and have plenty of money on hand to counter the inevitable slimestorm that will blow in when DeLay realizes his only chance is to drag Lampson down to his level.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 06, 2005 to Election 2006 | TrackBack
Comments

OK, I'm confused. 11% are unfamiliar, so lets assume that they're the same 11% who didn't respond to the charges question. This means that 3% of respondnts who think the charges are at least probably true have a favorable opinion of Tom. I could understand if it went the other way and people thought the charges were false but still thought Tom was a sorry SOB, but there's a bunch who think "He's a felon, I like him." I don't think MOE accounts for it because it's the same survey. Did they poll his family and staff? Do people just like messing with CNN? Who are those 24 pro-felony poll respondents?

Posted by: Michael Croft on December 6, 2005 6:45 AM

My mother-in-law always has the TV on and it's usually tuned to Fox News. When the news broke about the conspiracy charges being tossed, the Fox guys fell all over themselves trying to make it sound like this was the end of the legal trouble for DeLay. It was fun watching their guests disagree and say that it's actually bad news.

Posted by: Sue on December 6, 2005 11:40 AM