Friday,
September 24 2004:
IS RUSS FEINGOLD IN TROUBLE?: That's the question
many people have been asking after seeing this
ABC News poll showing Feingold's lead over Republican
Tim Michels a mere 6 points. But not so fast. The recently
released Badger Poll, which showed a lead for President
Bush (14 points) that was comparable to the ABC poll (10
points), shows
Feingold with a comfortable 15-point lead over Michels,
53-38.
Michels
is a young (42), wealthy and attractive candidate with a
strong military background who emerged from the GOP
primary just ten days ago with solid
double-digit victory in a four way race. As is the case
for many challengers, however, the problem is that Michels
is a virtual unknown in the state (58% don't know enough
about him to answer the favorable/ unfavorable question
in the Badger Poll) with only 40 days until election day.
On
the other side, Feingold's job approval in the Badger Poll
stands at 49% and his reelect is at 47% - which is to say
that he may be slightly vulnerable for an incumbent. If
you also take into account Feingold's history, especially
his narrow victory in 1998 (a 51-48 win over Republican
Mark Neumann) and the fact that the state seems to be trending
Republican, you can start to see slightest indications of
a possible upset in the making. This is definitely a race
to keep an eye on.
Still,
as things stand right now the odds remain strongly in Feingold's
favor. It will take a Herculean effort by Michels over the
next six weeks along with a big win for Bush to prevent
Feingold from winning another term.
Related Links: Competitive
U.S. Senate Races | WI
Senate Page
THE
GREAT DEBATE: With the first Presidential debate
coming up next week, now would be a good time to plug this
new feature on the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debate sponsored
by the Museum
of Broadcast Communications. Sunday, September 26 will
mark the 44th anniversary of "The Great Debate"
which was broadcast - irony of all ironies - from the CBS
News studio here in Chicago.
In
addition to accessing this
extraordinary fifteen minute documentary with some behind
the scenes footage of the Nixon-Kennedy debate, true political
junkies will swoon over this
page which provides a history of televised Presidential
debates from 1960 through 2000.
I would
venture to say that the coming debate between President
Bush and Senator Kerry could very well rival The Great Debate
in terms of the level of interest, importance, and possibly
even impact on the outcome of the Presidential race.
Related Links: Pew:
When Debates Matter | National
Journal: The Main Event)
- T. Bevan 12:15 pm Link
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