Quinnipiac poll: Lieberman has 17-point lead over Lamont (52 to 35%)

[Human Torch]

Oct 20, 8:23 AM EDT

Poll: Lieberman's Lead Growing in Conn.

AP Photo/BOB CHILD



HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman has built a 17-point lead over Democratic challenger Ned Lamont, according to the first Quinnipiac University poll since the two faced off in a debate this week.

Lieberman, running as an independent after losing the Aug. 8 Democratic primary to Lamont, leads the Greenwich businessman 52 percent to 35 percent among Connecticut likely voters in the poll released Friday. Republican Alan Schlesinger trailed with 6 percent, and 7 percent were undecided.

A similar poll released on September 28 showed Lieberman with a 10-point lead.

The debate between Lieberman and Lamont on Monday was their first since the August primary. Among those in the poll who watched the debate or read or heard about it, only 3 percent said it changed their minds. "Ned Lamont needed to score a knockout in the debates to catch Sen. Joseph Lieberman, but he apparently didn't lay a glove on him," poll director Douglas Schwartz said. The poll suggested that Lieberman's support among Republicans and independent voters was substantial.

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhosted.ap.org%2Fdynamic%2Fstories%2FC%2FCONNECTICUT_SENATE%3FSITE%3D7219%26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DDEFAULT%26CTIME%3D2006-10-20-08-23-38

[Sammy Pepys]

1. I had a change of heart about Lieberman.....

..and have come over to Lamont's side, but we should've expected this. All those Conn Reps have no problems voting Lieberman.

[Chico Man]

2. Wow

I was recently in CT and the support for Lamont seemed huge. I didn't see a single Lieberman yard sign.

[DaveinMD]

6. yard signs

are no predictor of actual votes. I can't repeat this enough.

[Chico Man]

7. True but it still suprises me

[DaveinMD]

8. Lamont's supporters

are more passionate, but there are plenty of Lieberman supporters who will vote for him but don't feel the need to put up a sign. Soft Democrats and Independents don't put up signs.

[lonehalf]

12. I would never call myself a "soft" Democrat

I've never had a yard sigh.

I do, though, campaign for Democrats by going door to door in my neighborhood.

[DaveinMD]

18. I didn't mean to call you one

I was just commenting on why so many times signs are a bad predictor of elections.

[saltpoint]

3. A more recent poll from Zogby says it's 49-43 Lieberman.

This one is much closer than any of the polls.

Let's win it for the Democratic candidate.

[rinsd]

17. More recent than Oct 17th to 19th?

[TheVirginian]

21. Its Zogby Interactive

You can't bash Zogby when its bad for you and praise it when its good for you.

[saltpoint]

23. Zogby has his virtues. Zogby has some glitches. Zogby is Zogby.

[TheVirginian]

25. Zogby International is credible. Zogby interactive is not.

This is an interactive poll. Its not credible.

[saltpoint]

27. Your support for Joe Lieberman is astounding, Virginian.

I'm supporting the Democratic candidate.

[TheVirginian]

31. You mean my support for sound polling and logic?

Supporting a candidate doesn't mean that I don't understand the reality of the situation. If every poll says Lieberman is ahead, no amount of support for Lamont on my end will lead me to believe anything different.

[talk hard]

58. what you said

[rinsd]

33. Wow. Point out the facts and get called names.

Now who does that sort of crap?

[saltpoint]

36. Downthread I praise The Virginian's support for Ned Lamont.

The Virginian is one of the best-informed posters on DU and I look forward to posts by same.

[rinsd]

40. My apologies then.

[saltpoint]

45. You owe me no apology. I am the one who has spoken poorly in

this thread, not you. And not The Virginian.

I apologize for being curt and dismissive.

[talk hard]

59. ya you were

[Imagevision]

42. Quinnipiac poll? how relevant are they? lamont's going bigtime next

week with a commercial every 30 minutes for a week. let's check back then.

[cobalt1999]

4. I suspect if he wins, he switches back to the democratic party.

Probably already has a backroom deal with the Dem Leadership which is why they aren't doing anything about him now.

[madfloridian]

5. CT must be a strong Republican state which approves of Iraq.

.

[CTyankee]

37. I don't think so. I don't think they're voting just on the war.

IOW, the war isn't the deal breaker for them. They can be against the war and for Joe. Now don't yell at me, I've actually heard people say it. I think what they have really swallowed is Joe's "bipartisan" argument. It obviously focus tested well because his ads always mention it.

[JerseygirlCT]

48. No, just the "land of steady habits" & Joe is a bad habit too many can't

bring themselves to break.

[asjr]

9. There must be something wrong with

these polls. How can anyone vote for a man who wants to retain his power so badly that he wants a do-over? His actions since the primary shout EGO. We need new, younger, more in tune with the public candidates. There are some really good older ones but this is a different world now. That was the reason I wanted Dean to win in 2004. He is "in your face" with the truth and isn't afraid to say it. With Lieberman it seems to be a sense of entitlement that he retain his seat. He works for Lieberman, not his constituents.

[David Dunham]

10. Lamont unfortunately has come across as a weak, inexperienced guy

[Marlie]

14. Most people in Connecticut

Are wealthy and way upper middle class. Against the war yes, but I think the
majority of them haven't felt the crunch of the poor and the middle class.
They enjoy Bush's tax cuts, don't have to worry about health care, struggling
just to make ends meet from week to week or worry about being able to afford
a good education for their children. I wonder how many of their kids are
over in Iraq? So, guess Joe is OK with them. You know what they say about we Americans, if an issue doesn't personally effect them, everything is OK. If this
poll is correct, sorry if I offend any people from Connecticut on this board but your State really disappoints.

[madinmaryland]

15. While there are a lot of wealthy in CT,

there are also a lot of lower classes. The cities (Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, etc.) are very poor and very segregated. Also, there is no way for anyone in the cities to move out to the wealthier suburbs. It is the difference between night and day to compare the cities to the burbs.

[Marlie]

19. Thanks for the clarification

I just wonder if those very poor people will even consider voting. Sadly, the
people who need help the most just don't vote. Just think they're not even
educated enough or know how to register or get to the polls. A very tragic fact of
life.

[CTyankee]

39. Well, we set a very high bar and attempted something

everybody said we'd get nowhere with. Ned Lamont went from zero recognition to national fame by taking on what conventional wisdom said was a very popular senator. Ned won the nomination of the Democratic party in the state, no mean feat.

We try harder, we aim higher. If that is disappointing, well, it's better than not trying at all.

[JerseygirlCT]

49. We are one of the wealthiest states in the country

but that's a reflection of the extreme wealth of some -- it doesn't mean that most people here are rich at all.

There are actually many, many parts of CT that are very blue-collar. Lots of children and grandchildren of immigrants (Italians, Poles, Irish).

More people are registered as independents than Dems or Republicans. Lieberman is pulling well from Republicans, has enough Dems and independents to look like he'll win.

Personally, I've never liked the guy. I voted Republican years ago (Lowell Weicker) against him, in fact. But a lot of people don't feel secure "jumping" to someone they don't feel they know. Lamont has allowed himself to be portrayed as a single-issue candidate and the darling of Move On, which a whole lot of folks see as a sort of scary far-left organization. (I'm not one of them, but I hear this often).

I hear a good number of people say they're not crazy about Lieberman, but he's the devil they know, and they haven't seen anything they like about Lamont. He's got to overcome that if he's to pull this off -- I think it's that simple. They need a compelling reason to trust him, not just lots of reasons (and there are plenty) to dislike and distrust Lieberman.

[MiaCulpa]

11. Lieberman doesn't deserve anything but a swift kick in the ass.

I hope the Dems there really pull together on this. He's every bit as dangerous as his BFF Bush.

[Thrill]

13. LOL I think the Dems better

start getting back on his good side. Too Funny

[Bucky]

24. Hey! That's not funny at all.

It's kinda sorta true, given the high chances that the Senate could be 50-50. But not funny one damn bit. I'd still put good money on him caucusing with the Democrats no matter what he does, but you can't just ignore or alienate a pol with an independent base like that.

[Thrill]

41. Oh I think it is funny

how they totally miscalculated how popular he is in his state. Not suprised, considering some of the other gafs our party has made in the last several elections.

[JerseygirlCT]

51. I don't understand this, although I've heard it several times

Do you suppose that individual Democrats made their primary choice by calculating who might be more popular to the general electorate come November?

I know that really wasn't part of my thought process, which really concerned my deep disappointment with Lieberman and the job he's done (or hasn't done as it were) over the years, and thinking Lamont seemed a good guy with good ideas.

I really wasn't making strategic decisions based on projections of October polls.

Are you saying, for instance, that I should have guessed Lieberman would be attractive to CT Republicans (ok, not much of a guess, I already knew that) and so vote with them? What would that have done -- where would be the point in my voting at all in the primary?

[leesa]

54. You think it's funny that this POS might remain in the Senate?

Why are right wingers always named Brent?

[Thrill]

55. No

I think its funny how they totally miscalculated how popular the guy was in his state.

And I'm not a right winger. I can't think of one thing I agree with a Republican on.

[Bucky]

56. I'm sorry, but you clearly are a right winger. Let's review the facts.

1- You do not engage in unrelenting and irrelevent verbal attacks against Lieberman
2- You are named Brent

In the light of such overwhelming evidence, the case is clear. Clearly you're a right winger. Probably you are Pat Buchanan's kid brother. Whose name by the way is Brent.

Burn the Witch!

[LeftishBrit]

16. Well, the Republicans have purged and abandoned their candidate for him

so it's not exactly a typical situation.

I hope he loses; but if he doesn't, I assume the whole kerfuffle still makes him less likely to be a national candidate, or have a long-term role in shaping party policy. As with George Allenon the Republican side if (god forbid) he gets re-elected.

[Imagevision]

20. Lamont will win, Lieberman pollsters are baloney

[TheVirginian]

22. Lamont hasn't led in a single poll

And every poll that has been released have been independent polls.

Usually, when a campaign disagrees with an independent poll that shows their candidate down big, they'll release an internal poll so supporters and donors don't get scared. The fact that Ned Lamont's camp has never released an internal poll shows that they're getting the same numbers as these independent polls.

[Bucky]

26. Hey, you! Yes, you with the facts! Stop saying that!!

I am now typing with my elbows because my fingers are in my ears so I can't hear you. La-la-la-la-Lamont!

[Marlie]

29. Ned's been abandoned

Other than a recent ad with Chris Dodd and a five thousand dollar donation from
Hillary, where have the name Democrats been for Ned? No one is campaigning for
him. I really believe the big boys in the party want Lieberman to win. I feel sorry for Ned, he's put so much of his own money and heart into this campaign. I truly believe he entered the race because he believed could make a difference.
It absolutely kills me that someone of Lieberman's character is probably going to remain in Washington. A loser.

[saltpoint]

28. The polls suck. That race is much closer than the Q poll.

In any event, Lamont is the Democratic candidate.

I support the Democratic candidate.

[TheVirginian]

30. You're probably right, but Lieberman still is leading.

I don't neccesarily believe by 17 points, but he'll definately win, and there's a good chance he'll get over 50% of the vote.

[saltpoint]

32. Do you support the Independent candidate over the Democratic

candidate?

Connecicut Democrats chose Lamont.

[TheVirginian]

34. I support Lamont; over 50% of CT voters support Lieberman.

And roughly 40% of CT Democrats support him, too.

[saltpoint]

35. I'm aware of the stats and have followed them a while now.

I am genuinely pleased to hear you support the Democratic candidate.

He's a good man.

[TheVirginian]

38. Yet when I give you facts on the race and on pollsters

You question my personal motives.

[saltpoint]

44. And without cause. Your intelligence and perceptions of American

politics are plain and in clear view for me and my personal objections to Joe Lieberman's associations with the Bush administration have eclipsed both my judgment and sense of fairness to you.

I was doing too much cheerleading and not enough cool-browed analysis, and worse, at your expense.

I was raised to know better.

I apologize.

[TheVirginian]

46. Accepted. Thank you; most here do not bother.

[JerseygirlCT]

50. Butting in to say

you're a class act, Old Crusoe.

[Catchawave]

43. Just sent money to Ned.....

Connecticut Dems, don't let me down :hi:

[bigdarryl]

47. Was this poll done before or after that debate

[Awsi Dooger]

52. After the first debate, before the second

Or partially before the second debate, which was Wednesday.

I think this margin is very high but it's probably a 9 point race if I had to align myself with one number.

[leesa]

53. This makes ZERO sense . Somebody is purchasing polls.

The Republican did well at the poll and Joe has made some dreadful mistakes in the last couple of weeks. Somebody is buying poll results.

[Bucky]

57. I've worked as a pollster. Clients depend on the veracity of our work.

An opinion pollster who let his work get bought off would quickly find himself laughed out of the profession. If you have one iota of evidence to back up this ludicrous suggestion, show it. If not, then quit pretending that facts you don't like aren't part of reality. If it's loony for Bush and his circus act to do it, it's no less pathetic when Democrats do it.