The Polling Report [3.16.13]

NATIONAL–PRESIDENT–2016–Quinnipiac: Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton (D) 45, Governor Chris Christie (R) 37; Clinton (D) 50, Representative Paul Ryan (R) 38; Clinton (D) 50, Senator Marco Rubio (R) 34

With Chris Christie the only GOP candidate polled making it a race against Clinton, it really is a shame that he has as much chance of winning the Republican nomination as I do.

NATIONAL–PRESIDENT–2016–Quinnipiac: Christie (R) 43, Vice President Joe Biden (D) 40; Biden (D) 45, Rubio (R) 38; Biden (D) 45, Ryan (R) 42

NATIONAL–MARRIAGE EQUALITY–Quinnipiac: Support for same-sex marriage is inching up and now stands at 47% to 43%, including 54% to 38% among Catholic voters.

Said pollster Peter Brown on the surprising and ironic finding about Catholics: “Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage. Among all voters, there is almost no gender gap, but a big age gap. Voters 18 to 34 years old support same sex marriage 62% to 30%; voters 35 to 54 years old are divided 48% to 45% and voters over 55 are opposed 50% to 39%.”

NATIONAL–APPROVAL RATINGS–PRESIDENT, REPUBLICANS AND THE SEQUESTER–ABC/Washington Post: Approve 50, Disapprove 46

39 percent of Americans approve of the automatic budget cuts known as the Sequester while 53 percent opposed it.
64 percent said they thought the automatic cuts would hurt the economy. I love that number, because it means that there are some people out there that approve of the Sequester while also knowing it will hurt the economy.
60 percent said they thought the cuts would hurt the government’s ability to provide basic services.
69 percent said they thought the cuts would hurt the military.
68 percent want President Obama and congressional Republicans to continue discussions about how to replace the sequester. Only 28 percent want the cuts to remain in place.
71 percent oppose cutting spending on Medicaid to replace the cuts.
60 percent oppose raising the Medicare eligibility age to replace them.
58 percent support replacing the cuts with more targeted cuts to military spending.
56 percent support replacing the cuts with an agreement that includes limiting deductions enjoyed by higher income individuals.
If they don’t replace the Sequester, 47 percent of Americans will blame Republicans exclusively while just 33 percent blamed the president. 14 percent said both sides deserved the blame.
Congress has a 16 percent approval rating and 80 percent disapproval.
Congressional Republicans have a 24 percent approval and 72 percent disapproval rating. This includes 74 percent of Independents and 81 percent of moderates, all of whom hate the Republican Party with the passion of a thousand suns.
Congressional Democrats have a 34 percent approval and 64 percent disapproval rating.

MASSACHUSETTS–SENATE–Democratic Primary–Garin-Hart and Yang: Rep. Ed Markey 42, Rep. Steven Lynch 28

MICHIGAN–SENATE–Democratic Primary–Harper Polling (R): Former Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) 59, Rep. Gary Peters (D) 13, REp. Dan Kildee (D) 6, Undecided 23

MICHIGAN–SENATE–Republican Primary–Harper Polling (R): Scott Romney (R) 26, Rep. Mike Rogers (R) 17, Rep. Justic Amash (R) 11, Undecided 37

Note: Scott Romney, the brother of Mittens, announced yesterday that he was not going to run.

MICHIGAN–GOVERNOR–Public Policy Polling: 2010 Democratic Nominee Virg Bernero (D) 43, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) 38; Rep. Gary Peters (D) 44, Snyder (R) 37; Mark Schauer (D) 40, Snyder (R) 36

PENNSYLVANIA–GOVERNOR–Quinipiac: Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D) 42, Gov. Tom Corbett (R) 39; Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski (D) 44, Corbett (R) 38; Former Rep. Joseph Sestak (D) 47, Corbett (R) 38

PENNSYLVANIA–GOVERNOR–PPP: Schwartz (D) 45, Corbett (R) 34; Sestak (D) 45, Corbett (R) 34; State Treasurer Rob McCord (D) 45, Corbett (R) 34;

Corbett’s job approval rating has sunk from an already-pitiful 38-52 down to a treacherous 33-58, making him the third least-popular governor in the nation. Only 25% of voters approve of how he’s handled the Penn State situation, to 58% who disapprove. And just 17% support his plan for privatizing the state lottery, compared to 67% who oppose it. In both cases Corbett’s leadership is being repudiated even by members of his own party—he has just 35/45 support for his handling of Penn State and 25/55 support for lottery privatization from Republicans. Thus, given these numbers, it is not impossible that the GOP will ditch Corbett like Democrats did with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010.

Here is the Republican Primary numbers with a former rival of Corbett’s:

PENNSYLVANIA–GOVERNOR–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–PPP: Some one else 49, Corbett 37; Corbett 43, Montgomery County Bruce Castor 23

TEXAS–GOVERNOR–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–University of Texas/Texas Tribune: Gov. Rick Perry (R) 49, Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) 17

I am not sure why Texas Republicans are not yet tired of him, even if they like him. He has been Governor since 2000. That is 13 years. And it is not as if he is even beloved by Texas Republicans. He has been primaried each time he ran for reelection, and he won close pluralities each time. There is a reason why term limits are a good idea. Because even if an idiot does get in, he is only guaranteed to be there for two terms.

NORTH CAROLINA–SENATE–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–PPP: Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest 18, Rep. Virginia Foxx 13, NC Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry 12, Rep. Renee Ellmers 10, State Sen. Phil Berger 8, Rep. Patrick McHenry 7, Teabagger Radio Host Greg Brannon 4, NC House Speaker Thom Tillis 2, Activist Terry Embler 1.

NORTH CAROLINA–SENATE–PPP:
Sen. Kay Hagan (D) 50, Lt. Gov. Forest (R) 40; Hagan (D) 49, McHenry (R) 39; Hagan (D) 50, Berry (R) 38; Hagan (D) 49, Foxx (R) 37; Hagan (D) 49, Elmers (R) 36. The rest of the field trails Hagan by more than 14 points.