Latest Civitas

Richard Burr's political handlers might need to go crying to the DC media establishment again because those meanies at Civitas, who asked us to take some time out on the 4th of July to remember Jesse Helms, put out yet another poll showing him with shoddy numbers toward the end of last week.

They found just 31% of voters in the state with a favorable opinion of Burr, while 19% view him unfavorably. Those numbers are a drop from the last time they did his favorability in April, when it was at 33/17. They notably find the same lack of Republican enthusiasm for Burr that we do, with only 42% of voters within his own party viewing him positively. With this race at the top of the ballot next year, it could hurt GOP turnout if the party faithful are not excited about Burr.

They also not surprisingly find pretty low name recognition for Mike McIntyre and Elaine Marshall. With Roy Cooper out of the mix I really think any Democrat who runs is pretty much going to start in the same position- there's not a whole lot of difference in initial popularity between McIntyre, Marshall, and the even less well known Cal Cunningham and Kenneth Lewis. That's why getting a 'name' candidate at this point should be less important than getting a good candidate, especially if this race ends up being a referendum on what Burr has accomplished during 16 years in Washington.