Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tough climate for Dems in Arkansas

Arkansas is a very conservative state. That's not exactly breaking news but it's the overwhelming theme when breaking down the results of our latest survey there:

-60% of voters oppose Barack Obama's plans for health care, with just 29% in support. Independents are arrayed against it 73-20. Even among Democrats just 54% say they're for it and among white Democrats it's less than a majority.

-Only 45% of voters in the state say they believe Obama was born in this country, while 31% say they think he was not and 24% are unsure. Arkansas is the first of four states where we've polled the birther issue (Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado were the others) and found less than half of respondents confident that the President is a natural born citizen. The numbers are particularly dramatic among Republicans with 49% saying Obama was not born here to just 23% who grant that he was.

-55% of Arkansas voters say they prefer Rush Limbaugh's vision for the country to Barack Obama's. That includes 92% of Republicans, 64% of independents, and even 18% of Democrats. This is in spite of the fact that respondents on balance actually dislike Limbaugh, with 44% holding an unfavorable opinion of him to 35% positive.

Overall Obama's approval rating is a negative 40/56 spread, headed in the wrong direction since it was a positive 47/45 back when PPP surveyed the state in March. Obama has the approval of 72% of Democrats, 30% of independents, and 9% of Republicans.

Some folks are surprised that Blanche Lincoln is increasingly being thought of as vulnerable and that Arkansas' three Democratic House members made the NRSC's target list, but when you look at the baseline political conditions in the state you can see why the GOP thinks they might have some opportunities here.

We'll have numbers looking at Lincoln's situation tomorrow.

Full results here

8 comments:

Eureka Springs, AR said...

Just reading this post (not digging into the poll itself). What kind of answers did you expect when you asked the dumbest questions imaginable?

This poll appears (by your framing) to be about how effective wingnut and fundie media is in AR (which is all there is in AR)... not really about what people think.

Pennelope said...

Would you explain to this reader exactly what Obama's 'plan' is? As far as I know the President hasn't proposed anything concrete, yet you suppose to poll on the non-existent 'plan'. You are as useless as the ignoramii in Arkansas.

Marvin said...

Reading poll results like this make me so sad. We just have an enormous amount of absolutely IGNORANT & PROUD OF IT people in this country that we will have to drag kicking and screaming into the 20th century(yes, we're a full century behind at this point.)

Mike said...

Are you going to ask about Rush Limbaugh's Virginia this weekend in Virginia? (looks like they'll win the poll)

Allen said...

When a poll fails to reflect your political philosophy, blame it on the "wingnut and fundie media."

That's odd; less than a third of the respondents labeled themselves as Republicans, and less than half described themselves as Conservative, despite the wingnut/fundie media's effectiveness in AR.

Unknown said...

What possible difference does it make whether Barack Obama was born in this country. If his mother is an American citizen, then Barack Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Case closed.

Dr Doc dlcs said...

Sunday Dec 20 2009
left wing nuts are tearing this country apart. No respect. in the past 9 months the sheep are beginning to scatter further apart. Not good news. The country needs leadership NOW. Not one of us are perfect, but look who has sold out in just the past few days. Money is perhaps the route of all evil. Barack Hussein Obama realy scares me. I have parkinsons disease but I doubt there will be a cure in my life time. Politicians will say one thing but do another. Mike Huckabee is a good CHRISTIAN family. Honest and hard working. There will be very troubled times ahead and we need his leader ship. It is now so politicaly correct it's hard to tell a good joke without some left wing sissy be'n offended. Take me back to the 50's. God Bless all and please vote REPUBLICAN!
Dr Doc dlcs
http://www.foxnewsmagazine.com

Anonymous said...

If I were religious I would thank god that I don't live in Arkansas. This state consistently ranks the lowest in educational levels--and this poll pretty much confirms that statistic. I'm sure that most of the people polled are of the "keep the government's hands off my medicare" types. You have to be pretty stupid to be against healthcare reform that would clearly help you if you are the average citizen in Arkansas.

 
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