Public Policy Polling, 11/13-15, 769 voters
Carnahan (D) 43%
Blunt (R) 42%
Undecided 15%Blunt 53%
Purgason 16%
Undecided 31%Carnahan (D) 42%
Purgason (R) 35%
Undecided 23%
More info under the fold
Favorable/Unfavorables
Obama: 43/52
Carnahan: 40/36
Blunt: 30/38
Purgason: 7/14
Congressional Democrats: 27/58
Congressional Republicans: 21/62
“Next year do you think you will vote in the Democratic Primary, the Republican primary, or will you not vote in a primary?”
Democratic 41%, Republican 41%, Not Sure/Won’t Vote 18%
“Do you think that Congressional Democrats are too liberal, too conservative, or about right?”
“Do you think that Congressional Republicans are too liberal, too conservative, or about right?
59% say Dems are too liberal, 29% say Reps are too liberal. 12% say Dems are too conservative, 43% say Reps are too conservative. 29% say that Dems are about right, 28% say that Reps are about right.
During Roy Blunt’s 13 years in Congress do you think he has been part of the problem or part of the solution when it comes to huge deficits and too much government spending?
Problem: 65%
Solution: 35%If you are a Democrat, press 1. If you are a Republican, press 2. If you are an independent or identify with another party, press 3.
Democrats: 36%
Republicans: 32%
Independent/Others: 33%
How about some internals?
82% of Dems approve of how Obama’s doing his job, 88% of Reps disapprove of Obama’s job performance, Indys split 59/32 unfavorable. Obama’s best demo is 18-29 (46/44) and his worst is 65+ (57/37). 816 (KC area) and 314 (STL) approve of Obama, the rest disapprove by 30 points or more.
53% of Republicans view Blunt favorably, 53% of Democrats view Blunt unfavorably, with 30%+ unsure on both sides. Indies split 44/23 unfavorable. Blunt doesn’t top 32% amongst any age demo. Amongst 417 (SW MO) respondents, Blunt has 38% favorability and 38% of people viewing him unfavorably. Yes, amongst his “base”, for every person who likes him, someone dislikes him.
67% of Republicans view Carnahan unfavorably, 74% of Democrats view Carnahan favorably. Indies split 40/33 unfavorable. Carnahan’s best Demo is 46-65. The least certain demo is 18-29 (37% unsure). Robin has a positive with 314 and 816, and is within 10 with 660 respondents.
82% of Republicans picked Blunt, 83% of Democrats picked Carnahan. Indies split 44/32 Blunt. Carnahan wins 18-29 and 46-65. Carnahan wins 314 and 816, Blunt wins 417, 573 and 636 by 15+. Blunt wins 660 by a 42/35 margin.
10% of McCain voters will vote in the Democratic primary, 5% of Obama voters will vote in the Republican primary. (originally I did McCain/Obama splits before getting to the DRIs and editing. But this is more interesting than the DRI split here)
Blunt beats Purgason, 61/10 amongst Republicans and loses Democrats who got lost and who’d vote in a Republican primary, while winning 37/24 amongst Independents.
60% of Democrats view Congressional Democrats favorably, 94% of Republicans view Congressional Democrats unfavorably. Indies split 66/17 unfavorable. 40% of 18-29 view them favorably, and every other Demo is baaad for the Congressional Democrats. Only 314 respondents view Congressional Dems favorably.
44% of Republicans view Congressional Republicans unfavorably, 38% of Republicans view Congressional Republicans favorably. 79% of Democrats view Congressional Republicans unfavorably. Indies split 68/14 unfavorable. 18-29% is 30% favorable, 65+ is 53% unfavorable, the best showings for the Grand Obstructionist Party. 417 respondents had a 20% net unfavorable, a high for the Republicans.
57% of Democrats think Congressional Democrats are just right. 21% say too conservative. 22% say too liberal. 91% of Republicans say Congressional Democrats are too liberal. 46-65 are the best demo for “just right”.
50% of Republicans think that Congressional Republicans are just right, and 38% think that Congressional Republicans are too liberal. 73% of Democrats say that Congressional Republicans are too conservative. 36% of 18-29s say that Congressional Republicans are too liberal, compared to 35% in that demo..
36% of Republicans think that Blunt’s part of the problem, to go along with 83% of Democrats. But 48% of McCain voters think that Blunt is part of the problem. 74% of Indies think that Blunt is part of the problem.. Around 73% of voters from 18 to 45 think Blunt is part of the problem.
And how about some maps?
Roy v. Robin
Obama’s job approval
Blunt, problem or solution?
Conclusions
1) Robin Carnahan has some room to expand amongst some favorable demographics (18-29).
2) Roy Blunt’s base likes him as much as base Republicans liked John McCain.
3) Nobody know who Chuck Purgason is, but his polling numbers exceed his name recognition.
4) People in the KC and STL areas still like Democrats.
5) Roy Blunt is a Washington Insider who is part of the reason for the problems we’re seeing today, and people at least see his time as a GOP leader as a problem.
6) Independent voters don’t like anybody.
7) Congress isn’t popular. Good luck to any current Congressmen who were Republican leaders on selling themselves as outsiders.
Based on what I’ve been able to gather, Dems tend to win or lose statewide based on their performance in 573. Doesn’t look great for Carnahan so far.
Warrensburg, home to Central Missouri University, is in 660. And Mizzou is in 573. If Robin Carnahan can make all those undecided young voters come home to her I would think those two area codes would swing towards us somewhat.
Obama did very well because he generated a heavy African American turnout in St. Louis City and County as well as in Kansas City. The thing is, Obama will not be on the ballot so there will not be an automatically large African American turnout. I think Carnahan needs to reach out to the rural areas while not ignoring the suburbs. A good example is 2004. McCaskill and Kerry focused on the cities and St. Louis County. The Democrats did better there than 2000 but since McCaskill and Kerry did poorly in the rural areas, they lost. In some states like Georgia, Democrats need to win the suburbs. In more rural states like Missouri, Democrats need to win the rural areas. Obama did not increase much in the rural areas in Missouri so he did not win. In states like Florida with alot of urban areas, Obama increased his margins over Kerry’s enough to win.
Here are the Missouri numbers:
Obama lost by 3,000 votes in Missouri
Kerry lost by 196,000
Obama won by 119,000 votes in St. Louis County
Kerry won by about 51,000 votes
68,000 increase for Obama
Obama won by 108,000 votes in St. Louis City
Kerry won by 89,000 votes
19,000 margin increase for Obama
Obama won by 85,000 votes in Jackson County (Kansas City)
Kerry won by 53,000 votes
32,000 margin increase for Obama
Boone County
Obama won by 10,000 votes
Kerry lost by about 1,000 votes
11,000 margin increase for Obama
Overall, the increase in margin is about 130,000, 65% of the total margin increase for Obama over Kerry. Yes, I do agree that the Kansas City suburbs are important ground but with a lower turnout in the cities, ground in the rural areas is needed. It worked for McCaskill in 2006 where she lost the rural areas by 10 points and won by three points. She focused on the rural areas instead of just the central cities. In 2012, I do believe that McCaskill and Jay Nixon need to devote time and energy to the suburbs.
Dems need to be more competitive there.