I mean, what did Webb do since the election that would have caused FEWER people to approve of him than the percentage of votes he got in the election?  The "confrontation" with Bush where Webb said "that's between me and my boy?"  But wouldn't that have helped with Democrats and Independents?  I'm stumped.

against an unpopular opponent, the numbers aren't going to be pretty. When Hillary Clinton took office in 2001, her approval was 38% in New York. Six years later, she's untouchable in her re-election contest.

Also, I want to see the numbers taken AFTER his speech Tues. night.

the same is true for Webb.  I have every reason to believe he will be untouchable in 6 years.  I too would like to see his post State of the Union numbers.

This is from all the way over there in the Netherlands...talk about a speech causing ripples!!

http://www.atlanticf...

Careful with those predictions.  Webb did a fine job on his speech, but relationship building will take more.  Moderates who voted for Webb may disagree with the President's politics, but they respect the Office.  Out here in ROVA, offenses against a president, even an unpopular one, aren't quickly forgotten.

I agree with your statement concerning relationship building.

As far as "Hubris" is concerned though, I haven't seen any evidence of "excessive pride" yet.  Of course, there may be some very different regional visions about who and what the president is.

In my view he is merely a man, first among citizens.  The deference to his office is not absolute.  If the president acts boorishly towards me, I would like to think that I wouldn't grovel on my knees like a peasant. 

I do think many Allenites are going to hold a grudge for a LONG time over the '06 race.  Webb has 6 years to gain the people's trust in the 11%+ category. 

Also, it is my belief that Allen's support was much more hardened than Webb's (it's the difference between a politician with 20+ years of relationship building and one with less than a year of work).  A number of Webb voters were voting as much out of disdain for Allen as they were voting for Webb.  Webb will have to win their trust over the next 6 years.

The larger question is: How accurate is the poll?  SurveyUSA wasn't exactly dead-on with this most recent election.

which means that once again it doesn't get the younger, hipper cell phone generation and only got the type of people who are likely to answer polls, meaning the older, whiter, and more conservative types.  Survey USA is not noted for great accuracy, and I think this form of polling will become increasingly inaccurate as landlines into homes become increasingly passe.

What this conducted nationally, or just among Virginians?