NM-Sen: Domenici’s Sky-High Approvals Fall Back to Earth

During the nearly two years that SurveyUSA has tracked Senatorial approval ratings, Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico has never seen approval ratings below 60%.  Well Pete, that era is now over:

Granted, a 57/35 approve/disapprove rating is by no means catastrophic, but as the U.S. Attorney scandal continues to bubble, I wouldn’t expect to see his numbers improve any time soon, either.  And if an ethics complaint against Pajama Pete manages to materialize in the Senate over his role in the David Iglesias scandal, expect to see even further damage to his “Saintly” image in the state.

(Hat-tip to New Mexico FBIHOP for the scoop.)

Race Tracker: NM-Sen

7 thoughts on “NM-Sen: Domenici’s Sky-High Approvals Fall Back to Earth”

  1. Where are you getting the nice pretty chart of approval ratings?
    I haven’t seen the chart approvals since December or so. is there a members only thing they are doing, cause if so, it is upsetting me greatly.

  2. So says the Guru:

    The national MSM has even begun focusing more on Domenici’s tentacle of the scandal octopus. And it’s only beginning for Domenici. The MSNBC article notes the ongoing Senate Ethics investigation of Domenici. Should that garner more spotlight and, potentially, yield unflattering results for Domenici, that will expedite his decline in support. Now that Domenici’s approval is on the downswing, it is the ideal time for Rep. Tom Udall or another top-tier Democrat to challenge him and force him to a decision.

    And Domenici’s decline has only begun to show up in polling – now that his role is becoming clear to the voters of New Mexico, we will hopefully see a continued slide.  To help hammer that nail:

    Fired U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias, will appear on Meet the Press this Sunday. I wonder if Pajamas Pete Domenici’s phone call will arise as a topic of conversation.

    The question is: which Democrat would be best to step up to challenge Domenici and either force a retirement or take down super-conservative Rep. Steve Pearce as the Domenici-stand-in?

    I’d suggest it’s Rep. Tom Udall – both because he’s great on the issues and by virtue of process of elimination:

    Gov. Bill Richardson: Running for President, possibly Vice President
    Lt. Gov. Diane Denish: Indications seem that she wants to run for Governor when Richardson is done more than Senate
    Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez: Has said he’d only run if Domenici retired, but would support Domenici if he ran again – that doesn’t sit well with me
    Former NM AG Patricia Madrid: This may be unfair to Madrid, but it would look weird that the chief beneficiary of the scandal that took down Domenici and, ostensibly Heather Wilson, was Wilson’s recent opponent.  Also, Madrid has publicly been commenting on her thoughts on the situation, which also doesn’t sit well, for different reasons.

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