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Friday, April 15, 2005

WV-Sen: Byrd up by Ten in GOP Poll

The Anderson Group did a poll last month for the National Republican Senatorial Committee on the West Virginia senate race. While it's not 100% certain that Byrd will run for re-election, it seems pretty likely to me that he will. The opponent in this poll is GOP "dream" candidate, Rep. Shelly Capito (likely voters, no trendlines):

Byrd: 52
Capito: 42
Undecided: 8
(MoE: ±4.3%)

Before you get too excited, please note that Byrd won his last election (in 2000) by a margin of 78-21 (not a mis-print). It's a little troublesome to see him this close, but of course, this is a partisan poll. Also interesting is the incredibly low level of undecideds. Byrd has 110% name recognition in his home state, and I'm guessing that Capito must be well-known, too. (WV only has three congressmen, so that would make sense.)

But remember this as well: Byrd is an institution in West Virginia in a way that few other politicians have ever been in any other state. I've read many a time that you can't drive very far in WV without coming across a Robert Byrd High School or a Robert Byrd Bridge and the like. Personally, despite the political shift we've seen in WV in recent years, I think Byrd still has more than enough mojo to pull this one off.

(Thanks to Dave Weigel for the poll.)

Posted at 02:02 PM in West Virginia | Technorati

Comments

This is great news.

Does anyone have a link to a campaign site for Byrd?

Posted by: Bob Brigham at April 15, 2005 02:35 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I just spoke with a fellow named Carl at the Senator's campaign HQ. He told me there was no campaign website as yet, but expected one by the end of May. He also seemed quite pleased when I told him I was a blogger who had just written about the race, and encouraged me to get in touch with the press office.

Posted by: DavidNYC at April 15, 2005 02:59 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Nice. I hope they keep us in the loop.

Posted by: Bob Brigham at April 15, 2005 03:37 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I certainly wish Robert Byrd the best. Wasn't it him who spoke about the immorality of attacking a nation (Iraq) where many victims will be children ... anyway, can a Democrat without the recognition of Byrd win statewide again in WV? I think it was on this blog I learned that every year Appalachian Kentucky gets less blue as the FDR/Kennedy generation passes on. I also heard country singer Tim McGraw was thinking of tossing his hat into the Tennessee Senate race. What can we expect from this region and from a West Virginia in particular, which Dukakis carried in 88?

Posted by: mcittone at April 15, 2005 11:28 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

This poll has to be wayyyyyy off. The only person capable of beating Robert Byrd is... A dead Robert Byrd.

Byrd (alive): 70%+
Byrd (dead): 75%+

Posted by: nickshepDEM at April 16, 2005 01:21 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment