Rasmussen Nebraska 2012 Senatorial Survey
- Dave Heineman (R) 61%
- Ben Nelson (D) 30%
- Some other candidate 5%
- Not sure 4%
What if Senator Ben Nelson voted against the current healthcare reform legislation being considered by Congress and prevented it from becoming law. If the 2012 election for United States Senate were held today would you vote for Republican Dave Heineman or Democrat Ben Nelson?
- Dave Heineman 47%
- Ben Nelson 37%
- Some other candidate 10%
- Not sure 7%
Please let me know if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Ben Nelson.
- Very favorable 12%
- Somewhat favorable 28%
- Somewhat unfavorable 21%
- Very unfavorable 34%
Before voting to approve the Senate version of health care reform, Senator Nelson made a deal on Medicaid payments for Nebraska. Do you approve or disapprove of the deal Nelson made on Medicaid for Nebraska in exchange for voting for the health bill?
- Approve 17%
- Disapprove 62%
Generally speaking, do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and the congressional Democrats?
- Strongly favor 19%
- Somewhat favor 16
- Somewhat oppose 11%
- Strongly oppose 53%
When thinking about Senator Ben Nelson’s role in the health care debate so far, would you rate his performance as excellent, good, fair or poor?
- Excellent 6%
- Good 20%
- Fair 22%
- Poor 47%
Generally speaking, is Ben Nelson too supportive of President Obama’s agenda, too opposed to the President’s agenda, or about right?
- Too supportive 42%
- Too opposed 13%
- About right 30%
Should health insurance paid for or subsidized with government funding be required to cover abortions, be prohibited from covering abortions, or have no requirements concerning abortions?
- Required to cover abortions 6%
- Prohibited from covering abortions 65%
- Have no requirements concerning abortions 22%
How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as President?
- Strongly approve 24%
- Somewhat approve 14%
- Somewhat disapprove 14%
- Strongly disapprove 47%
Survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted December 28. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points.
December 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Nelson will retire by 2012. He is officially toast. Same goes to Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. The cleansing of Dems from Red States will begin in 2010. Just as the RINOs will go extinct, so will Moderate Dems in Red states or districts.
December 29th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Aron,
It’s pretty funny in the Crist TIME article that TIME cannot bring itself to mention Rasmussen’s name even though it cited his poll, hahahaha.
December 29th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Ben Nelson: Uh Oh!!
December 29th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
So he’s 31 points down if he votes for the bill and ten points down if he double-crosses Reid (obviously, folks in Nebraska don’t put a premium on staying bought once you’re bought).
Ten points down with three years to repair the damage isn’t a terrible spot to be in.
December 29th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
The importance/impact of this type of polling can’t be wasted on other moderate Dems in GOP-leaning districts. Regardless of the party spin, they know that this bill is poison in their districts/states. And just as the ripples have reached out beyond DC, they are likely to impact legislative seats as well, if VA is representative.
The GOP needs to start pounding on the two wedges with a big hammer: abortion and cost. When we quit focusing on deficit neutrality and start focusing on a perpetual annual $200 billion cost, we will move the middle.
December 29th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Is it possible Nelson held out for sooo long on such as a sweet deal for Neb (with little change to the final Senate bill from joe public’s perspective) that the dispproportionate nature of the payoff just turned his states voters off to him? An independant Neb voter is probably asking right now:
Joe Public – “So you holding out…what was all that for then? Couldnt you have said yes a month ago based on what you ended up getting?”
Nelson – “No…uh…I needed the final package to be softened…plus I brought home more stuff for Neb.”
Joe Public – “Soooo….that whole big hullaballoo was for a sweeter package for us and not really on principle…god what does that say about you?”
Sometimes too much centrism goes too far. Lieberman and Nelson in taking these final deals may have simply exhausted the average voters patience…regardless of whether that average voter is lib/con, pro health reform/anti health reform. Just my 2 cents
December 29th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Nelson, Dodd, Lincoln, and Reid
…are toast and will be packing up and leaving us next year.
Bye Bye
December 29th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
…and there ARE others heading towards them…
December 29th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Gov. Pawlenty On Balanced Budget Amendment
Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposing a balanced-budget amendment. He is calling for strict spending limits in Minnesota. Pawlenty says the federal government is running a Ponzi scheme.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/12/29/gov_pawlenty_on_balanced_budget_amendment.html
Senate Race Splits Colorado Democrats
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126204629145708289.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_news
California Rep. Radanovich (R) Retiring
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/2009/12/california_rep_radanovich_retiring.html
December 29th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I don’t believe this poll…wasn’t Nr. Nelson the most popular Senator in the country just a few years back?
December 29th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Kevin,
You SHOULD believe the poll. I grew up in Nebraska and lived there until last year. Nelson was popular because he was a CONSERVATIVE that didn’t beat the drum. He is supposed to be pro-life…and the only reason he was able to win his first governors race is because he was pro-life. He was popular for being a reasonable conservative voice….now that the dems control washington, he has abandoned his conservative principles like most blue dogs do when the dems are in control. He is absolutely NOT going to get re-elected in 2012, and he needs to start planning for retirement. In fact, i doubt he’ll even get the nomination for the dems in 2012. My guess is a republican will flip to the dems around that time and challenge him. Maybe the socialist Scott Kleeb can primary him…and get his butt handed to him by Heineman. Though i’m not as much a fan of heineman as i used to be. He endorsed Romney you know.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
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