Perdue Ratings High, Lawmakers May Face Voter Unrest

(4/29/08) An InsiderAdvantage / Majority Opinion survey conducted April 27 of 472 registered voters shows Gov. Sonny Perdue the big gun in Georgia politics. Perdue’s approval rating of 63% is “the highest it has been in years” in the InsiderAdvantage surveys of state politics, according to CEO Matt Towery. “Whatever damage anyone thinks he sustained in the legislative session is purely imaginary,” said Towery. (The poll was weighted for age, race, gender, and political affiliation. The margin of error was slightly under 5%.)

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss did not enjoy such high numbers. Chambliss had a job approval rating of 51%. “That’s actually not too bad,” said Towery. “We now have come to realize that if a candidate is anywhere above 45%, then he or she can win reelection. That said, it means he will have to work hard. Senators are generally less known by the public because, after their paid media from their last campaign wears off, their name identification drops off. And right now, incumbent Senators just are not very popular, anyway.”

Towery went on to note: “I don’t think these are alarming numbers for a well-funded Chambliss. But if things go the wrong way for the GOP in the presidential race and that flows down, then we could see a more competitive Senate race. My guess is that once Saxby starts running paid ads, his numbers will increase.

As for the members of the General Assembly, voters for the first time indicated indifference to the reelection of their own state representative or senator. Only 31% said they would vote for the reelection of their state representative, while 22% said they would vote against and the rest were undecided. The news was worse for state senators: 27% said they would vote to reelect their senator if opposed, but 25% said they would vote against, with the rest undecided.

“Those of us who have or do serve in the General assembly really never realize how few voters know who we are,” said former Rep. Towery. “In this case I think we see a combination of low name identification, combined with some voter hostility. What it means is that some races may be closer than expected and we might see more people deciding to qualify to run as the week goes by,” he added.

Note: InsiderAdvantage polls nationally and has polled the correct winner in 13 out of 14 presidential contests this year. In a few weeks, Creators Syndicate, the nation’s largest syndication company, which currently syndicates Matt Towery’s national column, will begin also syndicating InsiderAdvantage’s national polls related to the presidential contest and issues of major issue to the country.