Obama's Policies Are Hurting Virginia Dems, Polls Show

The Washington Post has a nice piece up today regarding the negative impact President Obama's policies might have on the races taking place in Virginia this year. The commonwealth will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

The Post story is anecdotal, inasmuch as the premise is based on the musings of a former Obama voter who now says she feels "punk'd" by the president. The writer then goes on to say that "there is no empirical evidence at this point in Virginia's race for governor showing that huge numbers of voters think like Cleland and will respond by sending a message to Washington."

Actually, there is: A new Virginia governor poll conducted by a Democratic polling firm clearly demonstrates that President Obama's unpopularity is helping Republican Bob McDonnell in Virginia. According to Public Policy Polling's blog:

Bob McDonnell has opened up a 51-37 lead over Creigh Deeds in the race to be Virginia's next governor, up from a 49-43 advantage four weeks ago.

The movement in the race likely has more to do with national trends than anything actually going on in Virginia. As Barack Obama's approval has moved downward in the last month, so have the fortunes of Democratic candidates on the ballot in 2009. Democrat Jon Corzine trails by an equal 14-point margin in New Jersey. . . .

Although Barack Obama took Virginia 52-46 last November, those planning to vote in this year's election report having voted for John McCain by a margin of 52-41. Put another way, roughly 60 percent of people who voted for McCain last fall are planning to come out while only 42 percent of those who voted for Obama are. [Deeds] probably needs to generate enough excitement around his candidacy to get out closer to 55 percent of those Obama voters if he's going to win.

PPP's Tom Jensen also noted that Virginia's and New Jersey's Democratic candidates for governor are suffering from Obama's decrease in popularity:

Corzine and Deeds probably would have started out as underdogs this year even if Barack Obama's approval rating was at 60 percent, but the fact that it's declining will make it harder for them to come back.

PPP's polling is good news for Republicans in Virginia -- and it corroborates a recent SURVEY USA poll that also showed Republicans leading big in the commonwealth. What is more, both polls show that the support for Republicans is not just limited to the top job -- the entire GOP ticket in Virginia currently leads by double digits.