Subject: new Castle/Coons poll -- 49/37
From: "Alexander Snyder-Mackler" <[email-masked]>
To: "BB" <[email-masked]>, "Acdonilon" <[email-masked]>, "ted kaufman" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 17:20:55 -0400

Highlights:
Castle 49, Coons 37 (last month was Castle 47-Coons 36)
Castle still under 50, Coons only getting 56% of D vote.
(A new/first PPP poll comes out next week)
Coons now ahead of O'Donnell by 10.
Obama at 55/44, Markell 65/32. No Beau, JRB, or any others.
Views on Coons still clearly soft and all over the map -- as many consider
him "very conservative" as "very liberal"

And how about this nugget:
9*  Suppose you had a choice between extending the Bush Administration tax
cuts for all Americans or extending the Bush Administration tax cuts for
everyone except the wealthy. Which would you prefer?

47% Extending the Bush Administration tax cuts for all Americans

48% Extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone except the wealthy

  5% Not sure

Article:

Election 2010: Delaware Senate
Delaware Senate: Castle (R) 49%, Coons (D) 37%
 Friday, August 06, 2010

Delaware's U.S. Senate race is basically unchanged from last month, with
Republican Mike Castle again earning less than 50% support. But, still, the
longtime GOP congressman holds a 12-point lead over his Democratic opponent.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds
Castle picking up 49% of the vote, while Democrat Chris Coons gets 37%
support.  Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent
(9%) are undecided.

Last month was the first time in Rasmussen Reports surveying of the race
this year that support for Castle dipped below the 50%
mark<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/delaware/delaware_senate_castle_r_47_coons_d_36>.
He
held a 47% to 36% lead over Coons, a county executive who has not previously
sought statewide office, in July. Prior to that survey, support for Castle
has ranged from 53% to 56%, while Coons has earned 27% to 32% of the vote.

Delaware, which has long been considered a potential GOP pickup with Castle
in the race, is now rated Leans Republican in the Rasmussen Reports Senate
Balance of Power
rank<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/election_2010_senate_balance_of_power>
ings<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/election_2010_senate_balance_of_power>.

Conservative activist Christine O’Donnell, who is challenging Castle for the
GOP Senate nomination in a September 14 primary, now runs 10 points behind
Coons. The Democrat gets 46% of the vote to O’Donnell’s 36%.  Ten percent
(10%) favor another candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.  Last
month, O’Donnell was running virtually even with Coons, 41% to 39%.

The seat at stake was formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden who resigned
following the November 2008 elections. His chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, was
named to the seat by the state’s Democratic governor but has opted not to
seek a full term.

*(Want a free daily e-mail
update<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/daily_updates>?
If it's in the news, it's in our polls).*  Rasmussen Reports updates are
also available on Twitter <http://twitter.com/RasmussenPoll> or
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Asbury-Park-NJ/Rasmussen-Reports/86959124863?ref=nf>.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Delaware was conducted on August 5, 2010
by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage
points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports
surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research,
LLC<http://www.pulseopinionresearch.com/>.
See methodology<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/about_us/methodology>.

If Castle is the nominee, the GOP makes serious inroads into the Democratic
vote. Castle gets 81% of the Republican vote, while Coons carries just 56%
of Democrats. But if O'Donnell is in the race, her GOP support is 66%, and
75% of Democrats support Coons. Voters not affiliated with either major
party break close to even no matter which Republican is in the race.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of all voters in Delaware regard Castle as a
conservative, while 61% feel this way about O’Donnell.  Fifty-seven percent
(57%) consider Coons a liberal.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) describe Castle’s political views as mainstream,
and only 16% think they are extreme.

Coons is viewed as in the mainstream by 46% and extreme by 23%.

Just 28% say O'Donnell's views are mainstream. Thirty-eight percent (38%)
regard them as extreme.

Castle is viewed Very Favorably by 27% of voters in the state and Very
Unfavorably by nine percent (9%).

Twenty-one percent (21%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Coons, while eight
percent (8%) view him Very Unfavorably.

For O’Donnell, Very Favorables total 14% and Very Unfavorables 18%.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of
people with a strong opinion more significant than the total
favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Forty-seven percent (47%) rate their personal finances as good or excellent,
well above the national
average<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/indexes/rasmussen_consumer_index/rasmussen_consumer_index>
.* * Fourteen percent (14%) say their finances are poor.  But just 20% feel
their finances are getting better these days, while 42% say they’re getting
worse.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters in Delaware say the Bush tax cuts should
be extended, while 35% feel they should end this year.  Thirty-percent (30%)
say if these tax cuts expire, it will help the economy.  Fifty-three percent
(53%) take the opposing view and say expiration will hurt the economy.
These findings are roughly in line with the level measured
nationally<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/taxes/august_2010/54_favor_extension_of_bush_tax_cuts>.

Voters are more evenly divided on whether they prefer extending the Bush tax
cuts for all Americans or for everyone except the wealthy:  47% say they
should extend the cuts for everyone, while 48% feel everyone but the wealthy
should be included.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of Delaware voters approve of the job Barack Obama
is doing as president. Forty-four percent (44%) disapprove of his job
performance. This is slightly better than Obama does nationally in the
Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking
Poll<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll>
.

Sixty-five percent (65%) approve of Democratic Governor Jack Markell's
performance. Thirty-two percent (32%) disapprove.

See survey questions and
toplines<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/delaware/toplines/toplines_delaware_senate_august_5_2010>.
Crosstabs<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/platinum/election_2010_state_polls/delaware/crosstabs_delaware_senate_august_5_2010>
are
available to Platinum
Members<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/platinum_service_description>
only.

ShareThis <javascript:void(0)>

-- 

Alexander Snyder-Mackler
(302) 598-867