Jan Brewer's Bad Debate Moment Doesn't Dent Her Lead in Governor's Race
Bruce Drake
Contributing Editor
Posted:
09/8/10
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's tongue-tied opening statement in a campaign debate last week earned descriptions that ranged from "cringe-worthy" and "painful" in news accounts, to headlines like "OMG this is so embarrassing" on postings of the video to YouTube. But her halting performance doesn't seem to have helped Democratic opponent Terry Goddard.
A Rasmussen Reports poll, conducted Sept. 7 following nearly a week of negative publicity, put Brewer ahead of Goddard by 60 percent to 38 percent with 2 percent preferring someone else or undecided. That's actually a bit higher than a pre-debate poll by Rasmussen in late August that had Brewer ahead by 57 percent to 38 percent.
The poll said 47 percent of voters had followed the stories about the debate very closely and another 38 percent say they had done so "somewhat closely."
While the stumble didn't help Goddard, it did apparently raise a noticeable level of concern with 48 percent of voters saying the performance would be very or somewhat important in their decision, compared to 51 percent who said it would not.
Brewer, who had been in deep political trouble last year, including with members of her own party, revived this year, largely on the strength of her anti-immigration stand and the new law cracking down on illegal immigrants she signed last April. Goddard oppose the law.
She gets a 91 percent level of support from fellow Republicans and attracts 20 percent of the Democratic vote, while Goddard is backed by 79 percent of Democrats.
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A Rasmussen Reports poll, conducted Sept. 7 following nearly a week of negative publicity, put Brewer ahead of Goddard by 60 percent to 38 percent with 2 percent preferring someone else or undecided. That's actually a bit higher than a pre-debate poll by Rasmussen in late August that had Brewer ahead by 57 percent to 38 percent.
The poll said 47 percent of voters had followed the stories about the debate very closely and another 38 percent say they had done so "somewhat closely."
While the stumble didn't help Goddard, it did apparently raise a noticeable level of concern with 48 percent of voters saying the performance would be very or somewhat important in their decision, compared to 51 percent who said it would not.
Brewer, who had been in deep political trouble last year, including with members of her own party, revived this year, largely on the strength of her anti-immigration stand and the new law cracking down on illegal immigrants she signed last April. Goddard oppose the law.
She gets a 91 percent level of support from fellow Republicans and attracts 20 percent of the Democratic vote, while Goddard is backed by 79 percent of Democrats.
Follow Poll Watch on Twitter
Visit the Poll Watch Home Page and see all the latest polls in one place
Read Politics Daily's 2010 Elections Round-Up