Less than half of Arkansas voters approve of Blanche Lincoln

K. Ryan James: When a Democratic polling firm puts this out, things aren't so good looking.

Lincoln could be in trouble

Raleigh, N.C. – The second part of Public Policy Polling’s Arkansas survey finds tepid approval ratings for Senator Blanche Lincoln.

45% of voters support the job she’s doing while 40% say they disapprove of her work. Hurting Lincoln’s numbers are poor marks from independents, only 31% of whom say they approve of her performance while 50% rate her negatively. 73% of Democrats but only 22% of Republicans express approval.

The report goes on to say that Mrs. Lincoln has a head-to-head advantage over two possible Republican challengers (Tim Griffin and Gilbert Baker), and that the challengers have negative opinion rating, despite the fact that over half of those surveyed have no opinion on Messrs. Griffin and Baker.

After all, this is a Democratic poll. To put this all in perspective, the same Democratic poll praised the fact that President Obama scored a higher approval rating of 47% "in a state where he got licked last year."

One more tidbit; among Democrats, Mr. Obama has an 80% approval - seven points higher than Mrs. Lincoln. Again, not a good sign when you are up for re-election in 2010 and running behind a president who lost your state by 20 points.

Maybe that Biden visit wasn't the smartest move? Sen. Lincoln's good friend and colleague from Arkansas, Sen. Mark Pryor, fared much better - with a 54% approval rating.

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Tags: 2010, Arkansas, Barack Obama, Blanche Lincoln, Democrat, Gilbert Baker, Mark Pryor, Republican, Senate, Tim Griffin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!