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DE-Sen: Castle Has Edge Over Biden

by: Crisitunity

Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 1:09 PM EST


Public Policy Polling (pdf) (11/30-12/2, registered voters, 3/5-8 in parentheses):

Beau Biden (D): 39 (36)
Mike Castle (R): 45 (44)
Undecided: 16 (20)
(MoE: ±3.5%)

When PPP last looked at the Senate race in Delaware -- back in March, when the idea of Mike Castle getting into the race seemed kind of odd -- they found Castle with an 8-point edge. Not much has changed in the intervening months, even though Castle caught a lot of people off guard by making his entry official; Castle still holds a 6-point lead. This is a little more pessimistic than the most recent few polls (a 5-point Biden lead according to Susequehanna and a 1-point Castle lead according to R2K), but taken together, they average out to a very tight race.

Both have good favorables, with Biden at 43/35 and Castle at 55/28; the key number seems to be that Castle is cleaning up among independents (52-23), which helps him to overcome the Democratic registration advantage in Delaware. Obama has 53/41 approval, which doesn't seem particularly out-of-whack with where things stand nationally, but one strange finding is that the House health care reform bill had a net negative, 43-46, in this sample -- suggesting that Castle's vote may not have done him as much damage with this sample as it seemed to do with Susquehanna's sample a few weeks ago.

RaceTracker Wiki: DE-Sen

Crisitunity :: DE-Sen: Castle Has Edge Over Biden
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2008 exit polls
Vote by Party ID
Total          Hartley-Nagle Castle  
Democrat    (48%)     62%    38%      
Republican  (31%)     10%    90%      
Independent (20%)     36%    64%
All a democrat would have needed to do to have unseated Castle would have been to get 20% more democrats. (82% to 18%) Had John Carney or Jack Markell ran against Castle in '06 or '08, he owuld have been unseated. Biden will likely get 85% of dems so this race is absolutely winnable.

Is it certain that Biden runs?
It doesn't seem to be a given that Beau Biden runs. 2010 is looking like a tough year for the dems unless there's some significant drop in unemployment by next year. So he may not want to take the risk. As the vp's son it would be beyond humiliating for him to lose this race.

Almost certain I'd say
Castle's numbers are quite obviously inflated right now.  Beau can and probably will beat him if he runs.  And even if he did lose I think people are reading way too much into it.  It would not necessarily end his political career.  

[ Parent ]
Meh, I'm not worried


20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

Same
Castle's numbers are way too high right now. That's not sustainable. He hasn't ever had his negatives rolled out in a full fledged campaign, so once that happens and he's brought back down to earth (particularly given his votes on health care and Stupak), Biden should do fine. Illinois and Delaware are the states I'm least worried about. I think we'll win both by 5 or 6 points at the end of the day.

Some Dude, 19, Democrat, NH-02 (residence), MA-08 (college)

[ Parent ]
Nor am I.
Castle's served statewide elected positions since the eighties I believe and can still only get no more than a small lead (and the gap closed, too!) despite this year being more favorable to Republicans than previously.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

[ Parent ]
As I said in the other thread
No way a majority of Delawareans are against health care reform.  PPP's sample is bogus, at least on that angle.  

23, Male, Democrat, OH-13

Is PPP now an (R) pollster?
We know how their numbers in NY-23 (over 50% for Hoffman) turned out. It's as if there's something strange in their voter screen.

They nailed VA and NJ
They have a valid excuse for NY-23 but should have just scrapped it. I think their topline numbers are pretty good. Never sure about the internals. Particularly Obama job approval which was consistently well below the exit polls in both gubernatorial races. Even then, at face value these are not bad numbers for Biden.

[ Parent ]
No
PPP is generally a good pollster.  Democrats are probably just at a low point thanks to the economy.

[ Parent ]
I don't see this as "Democrats... at a low point"
but rather Castle is popular and alsways has been, while Biden isn't even running yet.

[ Parent ]
That is true
Castle's numbers are good because he's been a statewide figure forever and has the impression of being liberal, which won't last through a hotly contested Senate race.  But I don't think there is any denying that Dems everywhere are hurting in polls at the moment.  

[ Parent ]
And even...
when he appeared on the Colbert Report last month, he came off as a very likable figure.  There simply isn't that visceral disgust and loathing that there is for many other politicians.

[ Parent ]
I'd just run ads showing Castle being Castle
Biden should run ads simply showing Castle make an ass of himself on the House floor with his pandering to the right against HCR.  The guy sells out to the right whenever they need him.  He'd be nothing but a stooge for reactionary republican conservatives in the Senate as well.  He just hasn't been called out on it because he has not had a competitive campaign... yet.

[ Parent ]
Exactly
People liked Chafee personally. They even liked his positions. They won't like where Castle stands when it is made crystal clear. Even though control isn't at stake in this instance and Delaware isn't as Democratic as Rhode Island. Castle is much more conservative.

[ Parent ]
For a guy who "sells out to the right"...
Castle's somehow managed to score comfortable victory after victory on a statewide basis. Keep in mind - it's not like he only represents Sussex County or something; this is a state which voted Obama 2-to-1 and Castle 2-to-1. They know the guy, they like the guy, and they probably will like Beau Biden too, so it's gonna be a barnburner.

For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast

[ Parent ]
Sockpuppet opponents
If Castle had anywhere remotely close to a top-tier challenger in 2006 or 2008 I'll bet he would have either lose or barely survived.  He's won comfortably for so long because noone has challenged him, something very unlikely to occur in a Senate race.

[ Parent ]

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