The latest Zobgy poll has bad news for Herb Kohl.
Actually, the poll doesn't have any really bad news for Kohl.
He is guaranteed to hold on to his U.S. Senate seat. Kohl's Dem challenger Ben Masel, "who lists 'good hash' as one of his four interests on his MySpace page on the Internet," doesn't stand a chance of pulling a Ned Lamont-style upset in the primary.
The race is certain to be between Kohl and Republican Robert Lorge, the candidate left twisting in the wind by the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
In spite of the fact that Lorge is going it alone, without any significant assistance from the party, he is doing remarkably well.
In the Zogby poll conducted August 15-21 with The Wall Street Journal, the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race is shown to be much closer than I ever thought possible.
Robert Lorge trails the three-term incumbent Sen. Herb Kohl by less than 18 percentage points!
50.7% of those polled would vote for Kohl. A whopping 32.9% said they would throw their support to Lorge. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.6 percentage points.
A Rasmussen poll from August placed Kohl at 59% and Lorge at 31%. But let's consider the Zogby poll.
The 18 percentage points separating the two men has to make Kohl feel pretty confident. I doubt he's losing any sleep over the upcoming election, but look at the numbers.
Kohl is virtually running unopposed and three out of ten Wisconsinites polled will not vote for him.
Kohl's record hasn't been challenged by anyone. He hasn't had to explain his positions or answer any tough questions. He hasn't even had to answer any softball questions.
Even with that free pass, one-third of Wisconsin voters polled are against Kohl, and willing to support a candidate that they don't know!
If Lorge can get nearly 33% of the vote without buying any TV or radio time, and in effect be the "anybody but Kohl" candidate, can you imagine where a strong Republican candidate might be right now?
I've said it so many times already, but it still really bothers me that the Republican Party of Wisconsin did not field a viable candidate to challenge Kohl. The Party conceded the race to Kohl in July.
That was a mistake.
It was a lost opportunity.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Herb Kohl: Zogby Shocker
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2 comments:
I don't trust polls because they are so easily manipulated. As you point out, all of the candidates aren't included.
The media are virtually ignoring the senate race.
It is very troubling to me that Herb Kohl doesn't have to defend his record. He doesn't have to say where he stands on issues.
There is no debate, no discussion whatsoever.
I am not voting for Kohl. No way.
I've voted for Green Party candidates before and I would again.
I have never voted for Kohl and I never will.
He bought his senate seat and he uses his fortune to retain it.
At least with Feingold, you know where he stands. Kohl is content to stay in the shadows.
Vogeler and Lorge should get credit for campaigning against him, even if the media are ignoring that there is a U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin. I think they should be praised for taking Kohl on.
Bottom line: Wisconsinites deserve better representation in the Senate.
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