RK ARCHIVE - SurveyUSA: Sen. Webb's Approval as High as Sen. Warner's

These latest results compare to a SurveyUSA poll in June that showed Warner at +19 and Webb only at +3. In other words, Sen. Webb went up 10 points in the last month and Sen. Warner went down 6 points. Among men, Sen. Webb went from a net approval rating of 0 (45%-45%) to +16 (55%-39%).

What could have happened to cause this shift for Webb over the past month? Perhaps it was his smackdown of Lindsey Graham on Meet the Press July 15? Perhaps it was the near passage of Webb's amendment to protect our troops by giving them adequate time at home between deployments? Perhaps it was the death of the immigration bill, with Jim Webb and John Warner both voting "no?"

What do you think? Is Jim Webb really coming into his own as a U.S. Senator and are Virginians getting comfortable with him? Is the SurveyUSA poll an outlier? Or what?

Comments

It's a combination of things (Catzmaw - 8/3/2007 8:31:19 AM)

But the most important factor IMHO was Webb's dwell time amendment. His smackdown of Lindsey occurred as Lindsey attacked that legislation. And the smackdown itself showed him to be a tough, articulate, and sincere defender of our troops and their families. Plus, it was fun to watch.

Webb has also shown that he is independent, as demonstrated by his immigration vote; that he is willing to work with Republicans who will work with him; and that he has an extraordinary work ethic. Compare his legislative initiatives over seven months with Allen's six years and you see a massive output, especially his proposals for the welfare of the military and veterans. Word is getting out that Webb, at heart still a Marine, looks out for his people.

Look how many Senate Republicans he talked into supporting his bill. He's not afraid to compliment even the small steps taken by the Administration, such as his open approval of Condi's recent diplomatic overtures. Watch Senate hearings on C-Span. He's always there, sometimes for hours longer than his colleagues, and his questions and comments draw on his vast experience and current facts and figures. He understands the practical issues far better than most of his colleagues. Last week, he was the only other Senator besides Barbara Boxer to attend the Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing for our new ambassador to Vietnam.

Why is Webb growing in popularity? Word's getting out that we have a tough, principled, pragmatic, tenacious, articulate, and independent thinker in the Senate who really believes he's there for the people and not for himself. Read the comments on other blogs and you see a lot of non-Virginians wishing they could clone him.

A few days ago I was talking to a nurse who doesn't have time to follow politics and was lamenting the war and its burden on so few. I told her about the dwell time amendment and of Webb's other efforts to help the troops. She was impressed. Another Webb supporter born. She didn't even vote last election, but her vote to re-elect him is already in the bag.