Colbert tops SC voters' Senate wish list

Nikki Haley is one of the most unpopular Governors in the country. Only 42% of voters approve of the job she's doing to 49% who disapprove. Out of 43 sitting Governors PPP has polled on, that ranks her 35th in popularity.

Haley has pretty solid numbers within her own party. 70% of Republicans approve of the job she's doing to 22% who disapprove. But with Democrats (15/78 approval) and independents (28/57) her numbers are pretty woeful.

There is a path back to popularity for Haley though: appointing Stephen Colbert to replace Jim DeMint in the Senate. Colbert tops the wish list of who South Carolina voters would like to see join that body at 20%, followed by Tim Scott at 15%, Trey Gowdy at 14%, Jenny Sanford at 11%, Henry McMaster and Mark Sanford at 8%, Jeff Duncan and Joe Wilson at 5%, and Mick Mulvaney at 4%.

It's Democrats and independents- those voters Haley most needs to improve her standing with- who are pining for a Colbert appointment. Among Democrats 32% say they'd like Colbert to be picked with Jenny Sanford at 19% and no one else in double digits. With crucial independent voters Colbert has a 15 point lead for the appointment, getting 28% to 13% for Tim Scott, 12% for Jenny Sanford, and 10% for Trey Gowdy with no one else in double digits.

If Colbert's lacking knowledge of the state beverage keeps him from Haley's consideration, voters say their top choice is Jenny Sanford at 17%, followed by Tim Scott at 16%, Henry McMaster at 13%, Trey Gowdy at 12%, Mark Sanford at 9%, Joe Wilson at 7%, Jeff Duncan at 6%, and Mick Mulvaney at 5%. Sanford becomes the first choice of both Democrats and independents without Colbert in the mix and is particularly strong with women, 24% of whom think she should receive the appointment.

If you further filter the field and take the Sanfords out of the potential appointment list three men really stand out from the field: Tim Scott at 19%, Henry McMaster at 17%, and Trey Gowdy at 15%. The other three Congressmen we tested end up well back- Joe Wilson at 8%, Mick Mulvaney at 7%, and Jeff Duncan at 6%.

In all three permutations of the field we tested Tim Scott comes out as the top choice among Republicans. It's 22/21 over Gowdy with Mark Sanford at 11% when Colbert and both the Sanfords are included. It's 23/19 over Gowdy with McMaster and M. Sanford both at 11% when Colbert's taken out. And it's 25/21 over Gowdy with McMaster at 15%, Wilson at 12%, and Mulvaney at 11% when the Sanfords are taken out.

Others notes from this poll:

-2 years after leaving office Mark Sanford isn't getting any more popular. Only 30% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 53% with a negative one, and even with Republicans his favorability is 39/44. His prospects for a comeback to electoral office don't look very bright.

-Jenny Sanford, on the other hand, really could probably get elected to office if she wanted to. 44% of voters have a favorable opinion of her to only 25% with a negative one and her popularity holds true across party lines. She's at 48/21 with Republicans, 43/31 with Democrats, and 39/26 with independents.

-Colbert has a 30/32 favorability rating. Democrats (44/25) and independents (38/23) like him quite a bit, but Republicans (14/43) do not.

Full results here

Comments

[Traditional American]

I thought for sure that SC would want Alvin Greene.

[Metalworks4]

Do the people favoring Stephen Colbert realize that the Colbert who is offering himself as a candidate is playing a character? Did the pollsters ask whether those polled were choosing the character or the "real" man? How many people were joking around with this answer?

[WordsMatter]

When hell freezes over.

[Paul A'Barge]

Hoax. Srsly? By the way folks, PPP is a wholy-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party and is completely without credibility.

[Captain Obvious]

Who is surprised a governor like Haley is unpopular with the people who would think Colbert is a serious candidate? So the spoiled children are mad at Mommy for not taking them to Disneyland every day? She should take it as a compliment, those people would vote for Santa Claus if they could. No grasp of reality... this country is screwed.

[D]

Have we gone completely mad? We've forsaken all sense of responsibility and prefer to be represented in the Senate by a buffoon who knows absolutely nothing of government or how it should work! Isn't Al Franken in the Senate enough? Are we striving to outdo Saturday Night Live? Good God, South Carolina, wake up!

[Dennis Smith]

This is nothing more than further CONFIRMATION that a very large number of SC citizens are ignorant and lazy. What a record of service Mr. Colbert has demonstrated... Oh, sorry: that last was sarcasm...

[jondos]

Yup, very typical of the current mindset. Let us support another rich liberal Democrat to the Senate who wants to tell others how to live. Not a care in the world about jobs, the number of people on food stamps and the continuing downfall of the middle class into poverty. Not the downgrading of the American credit rating, not the government spying on all Americans, and not the KILL LIST. Yeah, just what we need, another "Do as I say and not as I do" boob! As long as you PROMOTE PAYING HIGHER TAXES and don't pay them, it is all good! Hypocrisy is good for the political system it would seem! The status quo prevails.

[ncinterpreter]

Honk if you had an affair with Haley!

[Makkabee]

Paul A'Barge says "PPP is a wholy-owned[sic] subsidiary of the Democrat[sic] Party and is completely without credibility." When one considers that PPP correctly called every state in this year's presidential election, it becomes apparent that Mr. A'Barge is the one with the credibility problem.

[Alex Burke]

The comments above all miss the boat. First the question is not is PPP a liberal front group, bit are their polls accurate? None of the commenters question the accuracy. Second is Colbert a reasonable choice for Senator? Here again the Q is not what do YOU believe but what do the relevant voters believe? Voters in other states have elected such luminaries as Palin, Bachmann, Schwartznegger, and Jesse the Body. Colbert, as a widely followed political analyst, is far more qualified than all of those names put together. There should be some rule that commenters have a clue what they are commenting on.

[GH]

"By the way folks, PPP is a wholy-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party and is completely without credibility."

Then that would explain why they were listed as being the second most accurate pollster of the 2012 election.

Oh wait...

[David Dubin]

Mark Sanford getting 8% says a lot.

[marcy]

Leave it to Stephen Colbert to shake things up in the political world! As much as I’d love to see Colbert’s election take flight, I’d much rather keep The Colbert Report alive. Heck, watching that show is just as much a part of my daily routine as eating breakfast! I always make sure to record the episode every day, just in case I don’t make it home from my office at DISH in time to watch it. In fact, I’m just glad that my DISH Hopper DVR has more than enough memory space to house each daily episode, or else I’d be spending just as much time deleting them as I do watching them! I must admit though that Senator Colbert has quite a nice ring to it. LOL!

[PJB_UK]

"WordsMatter" wrote: "By the way folks, PPP is a wholy-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party and is completely without credibility."

Sigh... As Colbert famously complained, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias." Y'know, it's statements like yours that prompted him to coin the word "truthiness" -- "the truth of the gut".

[Memlaw]

As this thread once again demonstrates, the right is completely clueless with it come to humor. The only comedy from the GOP comes in the form of endless irony.

[Captain Obvious]

"Voters in other states have elected such luminaries as Palin, Bachmann, Schwartznegger, and Jesse the Body. Colbert, as a widely followed political analyst, is far more qualified than all of those names put together."

Oh yes, being a widely known farcical idiot is now a "qualification". I guess it would be, to the ignorant tools who actually believe his incessant pablum as gospel. How could we have missed it?

"There should be some rule that commenters have a clue what they are commenting on." And Alex Burke should be careful what he wishes for.

As this thread once again demonstrates, the left is completely clueless with it come to humor. The only comedy from the DNC comes in the form of endless irony.

[Erich]

It's satire. Colbert wouldn't give up his job to be a politician if the world depended on it. Those of you who get worked up over it are letting the meaning of his push to poll high fly over your heads. Just think about what it means for a TV personality to be polling so high.

[TylerBB]

It might be a character he's playing, but anyone with a brain can see the views he really stands for. He would be a great addition to the senate.