Isakson among the Four most Vulnerable Republicans in the Country

Public Policy Polling is out with who are the most vulnerable republicans in the country & our own Johnny Isakson is among the top four. Here's the lowdown from PPP:

Right now it seems unlikely that any incumbent Republican Senators will lose for reelection this fall- just as no incumbent Democratic Senators lost in their party's strong years of 2006 and 2008.

But with the voters in an increasingly anti-Washington mood it's always possible incumbents of both parties could be in some trouble this fall- and of course it's also possible Democrats could be in much better shape eight months from now. With those things in mind here are the four most vulnerable incumbent Republican Senators, even if they're all favored for reelection as of now

Here's what it says about Isakson:

(3) Johnny Isakson of Georgia. Isakson has worse approval numbers than Vitter at a 36/38 approval spread but ranks lower on this list simply because he doesn't have a serious Democratic opponent yet.

At this time two years ago no one thought Democrats had any chance at Saxby Chambliss, but they pushed him into a runoff even with a pretty uninspiring candidate in Jim Martin. This is an opportunity for an ambitious Democrat to, worst case scenario, get ahead in line for a future statewide campaign by putting up a strong performance in a tough election year and best case scenario, pull off a shocker.

So far, RJ Hadley (D-Conyers) is the only democrat who's challenging Isakson for the U.S. Senate & recently Hadley was added to the DSCC's list of candidates (Democratic) to watch in up coming Senate Races.

PPP is no partisan polling firm.

The Wall Street Journal ranked PPP as one of the top swing state pollsters in the country last year. (11-6-08 WSJ)

Rounding out the list of Vulnerable Republican Senatore are: Richard Burr (R-NC), David Vitter (R-LA), & Jim DeMint (R-SC)

New Poll Shows Barnes Leading Top GOP Candidates in Race for Governor

The Public Policy Polling Firm shows Roy Barnes leading the top three republicans here in Georgia as he attempts to regain the governorship he lost back in 2002.

Barnes is up

40-39 on John Oxendine

41-36 on Karen Handel

43-38 on Nathan Deal

He leads because he's winning more of the Republican vote than Oxendine, Handel, or Deal is of the Democratic vote. That's a pretty unusual thing for a Democrat in a time when Republicans are super unified and some conservative Democrats, particularly in the South, are leaning toward supporting the GOP this year. Barnes gets 10% of the GOP vote to Oxendine's 8% of the Democratic vote, 10% of the GOP vote to Handel's 7% of the Democratic vote, and 12% of the GOP vote to Deal's 7% of the Democratic vote.

Barnes actually trails with independents by anywhere from 5-14 points in each of the match ups, mirroring the trouble Democrats nationally are having with those voters.


The early advantage for Barnes is somewhat attributable to superior name recognition. 69% of voters in the state know who he is, compared to 63% for Oxendine, 38% for Handel, and 29% for Deal. One way that imbalance manifests itself is that there are a lot more undecided Republicans in the horse race contests (23% on average) than there are Democrats (15%). The odds are those voters will move toward the GOP once the party has a nominee, making the race more or less a tossup.


Attorney General Thurbert Baker was to somehow upset Barnes for the nomination he'd start out at a disadvantage to the Republican candidates. He trails Deal 40-29, Oxendine 42-33, and Handel 40-33

Even Barnes’ name recognition seems to have faded a little. 69% of voters have an
opinion about him, followed by 63% for Oxendine, 41% for Baker, 38% for Handel, and
29% for Deal.

This race definitely qualifies as a toss up right now,” said Dean Debnam, President

of Public Policy Polling. “There aren’t a lot of states McCain won where Democrats can
say that right now but Barnes is one of their stronger candidates.
”
PPP surveyed 596 Georgia voters from February 26th to 28th. The survey’s margin of
error is +/-4.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may
introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.