Whoever said that Chuck Hagel is invincible had better look at this poll released today by the state Democratic Party. Chuck Hagel is vulnerable and Jon Bruning is not doing much better.
The Nebraska Democratic Party this morning released new polling data looking at approval ratings and public sentiment regarding U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel and Nebraska Attorney General and potential Senate Candidate Jon Bruning.
According to the findings of the recent statewide survey of Nebraska, Hagel is on a dangerous terrain, particularly if he is to face Bruning in a Republican primary. Today, Hagel earns a net negative job performance score statewide with 42 percent of voters saying he is doing an excellent-to-good job, while a majority, 50 percent, says fair-to-poor. Hagel’s job performance is most negative with his Republican base, while it is net positive among Democrats and solidly mixed among independents. Among conservative Republicans, Hagel’s professional marks have crumbled, with almost two-thirds, 61 percent, saying he is doing a fair-to-poor job as Senator....
However, in sharp contrast to Hagel, Bruning earns a solid 61-degree personal feeling thermometer rating among those who can rate him, with a slightly better than three-to-one warm-to-cool ratio, 35 percent have a favorable or warm opinion of him, while 10 percent have a cool opinion. Bruning earns a strong professional rating as well, with 40 percent saying he is doing an excellent-to-good job, while 29 percent say fair-to-poor.
Unlike Hagel, Bruning’s job performance is solid among the Republican base, and independents too, while Democrats split evenly.
I think we can forget about waiting for Hagel to retire to pick up this seat. His popularity is waning (ironically for being a moderate) and the state's Republican party is getitng ready to tear itself apart. The question now is whether state Democrats and the DSCC are serious about turning Nebraska a little less red.