A new survey of Nebraska from Public Policy Polling (D) suggests that moderate Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is in an interesting situation: He is unpopular in this deep-red state, and getting more unpopular still — but simultaneously narrowing the gap against his main Republican challengers. The reason? Because they are getting unpopular, too.
The poll gives Nelson an approval rating of only 36%, to a disapproval of 55% — down from his 39%-50% approval numbers in the last PPP survey from January.
However, Nelson trails Republican state Attorney General Jon Bruning by only 46%-42%, down from Bruning’s previous 50%-39% lead in the last poll. Nelson also narrowly trails his 2000 opponent, former state Attorney General Don Stenberg, by 44%-41%, similar to the 45%-41% Stenberg lead in the last poll.
Bruning’s ratings have also declined in the same time period. His personal favorable rating in January was 42%-26% — now it is in negative territory at 32%-38%. Bruning has faced scrutiny over a land deal with student loan executives. He also made a controversial comment, which his campaign subsequently backed away from, comparing welfare recipients to scavenging raccoons.
Stenberg’s favorable ratings have also declined, though not as much as Bruning’s. He was at 38%-25% in January, and is now at 34%-32%.
From the pollster’s analysis: “It still looks like an uphill battle for Nelson- it’s never easy to win if you’re one of the most unpopular Senators in the country. But Bruning has been weakened so much over the course of 2011 that there’s a ray of hope for Nelson that might not have existed earlier this year. It’s the Harry Reid plan for an unpopular incumbent- make your opponent even more unpalatable than you. That’s not an easy thing to pull off but Nelson’s headed in the right direction.”
The pollster is referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) re-election in 2010. Despite Reid’s own unpopularity and the national Republican wave, Reid was re-elected thanks in large measure to the unpopularity of his Republican opponent, former state Rep. Sharron Angle, who had a history of making extreme statements and also habitually avoided taking questions from the press.
