Thursday, August 12, 2010

Colorado Undecided

The Colorado Senate race really provides a great prism into how much this year's election results will be determined by voters deciding between the lesser of two evils.

Michael Bennet begins the general election with a 46-43 lead. Here's the profile of the undecided voters:

-They pretty universally dislike both Bennet and Ken Buck. 9% like the job the incumbent's doing while 47% disapprove. 3% have a favorable opinion of the challenger while 39% see him unfavorably.

-They have little regard for the President, giving him a 31% approval rating while 55% disapprove. But they express even less faith in the future of the Republican Party with 12% saying it's headed in the right direction and 54% saying it's going the wrong way.

These folks don't like either candidate. They don't like either party. And they're going to end up deciding how to vote based on which candidate and party they dislike less. Not a lot of hope and change at the ballot box this year.

The Colorado race is emblematic of this but it's very much true at the national level. Among those undecided on the generic ballot the approval of Congressional Democrats is 16/64 and the approval of Congressional Republicans is 9/65. The swing voters this year are those who don't like anyone or anything going on in politics.

1 comment:

Lance S said...

This does raise the question of how many folks who say they dislike both parties are really going to turn out and vote. I think earlier polls you've done suggest they are for the most part supporting Republicans. But if people who are that unexcited about their choices in the end stay home, it could definitely impact the results this fall.

 
Web Statistics