Georgia Miscellany

-PPP continues to find Nathan Deal with pretty mediocre approval numbers. Only 36% of voters approve of him to 41% who disapprove. That's nearly identical to the 37/40 spread we found for him in early December. Nevertheless Deal looks like a favorite for reelection. He would lead Jason Carter 46/38 and John Barrow and Kasim Reed 48/38 in hypothetical match ups. This may be a situation where Deal's unpopularity would let a strong Democratic candidate make the race competitive, but it would be hard for a challenger to actually get to 50%.

-Our newest look at Saxby Chambliss' approval numbers probably confirms that he made the right choice by deciding to retire.  Only 47% of Republicans are happy with the job he's doing to 31% who disapprove. It's hard to fight off a serious primary challenge when your numbers are under 50% in your party. Chambliss' overall approval is 35/41. Georgians aren't real big on any of their politicians- Johnny Isakson comes in at 37/39 and Barack Obama's at 45/53 in the state.

-The Falcons aren't making much progress in the court of public opinion about their need for a new stadium. In December only 15% of voters thought they needed one and after scads of press coverage in the last couple months that's only gone up to 20%. There's only 17% support for any taxpayer funding for a new stadium with 69% of voters opposed to it.

-As mentioned above, Georgians don't like Barack Obama. They do like the NRA- it has a 46/38 favorability rating in the state. Nevertheless by a 51/40 margin voters in the state think Congress should pass stricter gun laws. And there's 49/44 support on the issue of an assault weapons ban in particular. This is the new reality in the post-Newtown era- there are voters who don't like Obama and like the NRA and still think stronger gun laws and an assault weapons ban is necessary, even in red states. It's been over two months now and we're not seeing these numbers move.

-Add Georgia to the list of states where Democrats might be competitive in 2016 with Hillary Clinton as their nominee. She has a 49/44 favorability rating in the state and would lead Marco Rubio (49/46) and Paul Ryan (50/45) in hypothetical match ups. She would lead by an even wider margin against Newt Gingrich (51/44). Gingrich is unpopular in his home state with only 39% of voters rating him favorably to 50% with a negative opinion.

We have now found Clinton competitive in polls in Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas.

Full results here

Comments

[pbrower2a]

Could Georgia be developing a nostalgia for the 1990s in politics -- but for Clinton instead of for Gingrich?

[LiberalAgenda21]

Clinton could win Georgia for sure but count me as a pessimist that she would actually run. The only reason she would run is out of an obligation to woman to prove its possible. If she doesn't feel that she feels perfectly satisfied with her career in public service and her philanthropy through other means not the least of which is the Clinton Global Initiative. I say that to encourage the polling of candidates like Biden, Gillibrand, Klobuchar and Warren.