New poll: Feinstein retains strong lead in Senate race

[question everything]

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

New poll: Feinstein retains strong lead in Senate race

Poll also shows preschool initiative's lead narrowing.


The Orange County Register

A new Field Poll out today shows U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein retaining her strong lead in the Senate race, while support for a preschool funding initiative on the June ballot is narrowing.

Former state Sen. Richard Mountjoy is the sole Republican candidate challenging Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992.

Other candidates are Democrats Martin Luther Church and Colleen Fernald; American Independent Don J. Grundmann; Greens Todd Chretien, Tian Harter and Kent P. Mesplay; Libertarian Michael S. Metti; and Peace and Freedom candidate Marsha Feinland.

(snip)

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1110038.php

[saltpoint]

1. I believe Senator Feinstein keeps her seat in 08. I wonder if her name

will be on short lists for the Democrats' 2008 vice presidential nomination?

[longship]

2. Try somebody from a Southern state.

No way Feinstein gets on the ticket and she knows it. (Unless she runs for the top office, that is.) It's very likely the the top of the ticket will be from the north or be a perceived liberal. Picking a Veep candidate from a very Blue state will not work.

If you want it to be a woman, try somebody like Kathleen Sebelius, KS Governor, or somebody like Janet Napalitano, AZ Governor--both Red states.

But it probably won't be either of those people. Heck, we don't even know who's gonna run for the top ticket. I hear a lot of talk about Kerry and Clinton, but that's about it. And although I am aware of Bayh, Biden, and a few other Senators, I really don't think they stand a chance.

I'm waiting for Gore or somebody else to come in out of the cold and take it all.

[saltpoint]

3. But say Warner gets the nomination. Just hypothetically.

You don't think Feinstein would be an attractive running mate?

I'm speaking politically here, not offering an endorsement or doing any cheerleading.

If Senator Feinstein wins by over 60-some percent in November, and I believe she will, I think there will be increased speculation that she might be a good ticketmate for 08.

[NV Whino]

4. Over my dead body

I have no doubt she will win the senate race, but there is no way I will vote for her for Veep.

[saltpoint]

5. My point was hypothetical. Rumored to be on the short list for Gore

in 2000, she said she was not being considered that highly, and heavily was talked up for Kerry also. Gore went with Lieberman, even over John Kerry, also heavily considered.

She is a player in Democratic politics.

This is not an endorsement, it is not speculation about what I personally believe should happen.

It says simply that if Feinstein wins big in November her name will be bandied about as a possible veep nominee.

That's all.

[NV Whino]

7. Point taken

And you're right, just about anyone with a high profile will be bandied about. I hope DiFi's name stops at the bandying stage.

[saltpoint]

8. I am ambiguous about her myself. So I hear you. I'm a Boxer fan

and have volunteered for her campaigns. Of course many senators pale compared with Barbara Boxer, so my view is obviously slanted there.

As for our ticket generally, I want a blue White House over a red White House in 08, and at the same time I have my favorite VP candidates. Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. Bill Moyers (PBS analyst...unconventional but devastating as a weapon against the GOP. Moyers is a Texan, a certified Baptist minister, and a near-socialist liberal.) Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas (I'm very open to a woman on the ticket in either spot, actually, but this woman is working miracles in an extremely red state. It would be awesome to flip Kansas blue.)

Etc.

There are others. I kind of love our line-up a lot more than I can imagine a Republican liking theirs. We have a deep bench.

All blue in November 06 and then on to 08.

[fujiyama]

12. She'd be an awful VP candidate

She wouldn't bring anything to the ticket and she would hurt a lot. She'd be a huge drag on the ticket.

Primarily, her stance on guns would kill with many states that are red now. Especially if say Warner were to be nominated, there would be a huge clash in values. I don't think it would work with him...or anyone else for that matter...

Also, many progressives and liberals are not impressed with her. She's been a huge disappointment. IMO, she's only slightly better than Lieberman (and that's only because she isn't quite as vocal an apologist for the administration - her record isn't much better than his on most issues).

If she has a place on the ticket, I will guarantee, it will help the conservatives play up the usual culture wars well again. And it has nothing to do with either her gender or religion IMO. If we were lookin for female VP candidates, I could think of several better suited - like Sen. Stabenaw of my state of MI, and as others mentioned Govs. Sebalus of Kansas (how she's holding on to power there I have no idea) or Napolitano of AZ...

[saltpoint]

13. Feinstein may be waiting for the right moment to go for the

California's governor's job. There was considerable pressure on her to run against Gray Davis just a short while back.

Her social issues record is strong, not least for women's rights.

If she defeats Mountjoy, by percentages at 60 - 65% or higher, which is likely, there will likely be renewed talk of her national stature. She carries some conservative districts of California as well as the Bay Area. She is California's most popular politician and does pretty well in places like Bakersfield compared with other Democrats who have run statewide races.

Against her GOP opponent in 2000, her last Senate race, she carried 31 counties to Campbell's 28, and whupped him pretty badly, losing some counties only by 1-2% points, and thumping him in many others. The results, statewide, by county, are here:

http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/pa_poll_041306.htm


Do I hope she's the veep nom? No. If she is, that's one thing. But I have other favorites in mind.

I was making the point that her profile, already significantly national, will be enhanced after she crushes Mountjoy like a potato chip. You can already order Dianne Feinstein for President 08 bumperstickers. This is not news. She is savvy, shrewd, and more electable than we might think.

Sebelius is a wonder. Maybe a miracle worker. I agree with you -- not sure how she does it in Kansas, but she does. Bravo, Kathleen Sebelius. (Her father was former Ohio governor, John Gilligan.)

[fujiyama]

14. I have no doubt

she'll crush whichever sacrificial lamb the GOP will put in front of her...and that's fine, compared to some RW GOP hack, I'll keep her in the senate for numbers alone.

And I agree she is savvy, and shrude. She's also decent on women's rights and the environment (though on corporate issues, she's still a whore).

Her views on gun control would fly in CA and most of the northeast and urban areas, but it would be a significant problem in rural areas nationwide. I don't see her doing anything to win essentially what is still the Gore states + a few other states. In fact, I don't see the stance helping one bit in states like PA or WI or others where Kerry barely won or a state like OH which Kerry may or may not have won.

[saltpoint]

15. Point taken on gun control. It's a hotbutton issue and the GOP

loves to exploit it against us.

[proud patriot]

6. Save the pre-school funding

[blue agave]

9. She is not even well liked here in Cali

but for some reason, carries great power.

[saltpoint]

10. agave, many toward the left aren't fond of her, but she remains

very popular statewide.

I believe she will be re-elected with more than 60% of the vote, and possibly close to 70%.

And she's won statewide several times.

Many papers and other media outlets in California call her "the state's most popular politician," and it's widely understood that she knows how to command votes, and lots of them.

[saltpoint]

11. The link and excerpt below are by Debra Saunders, a colunnist for

the San Francisco CHRONICLE. She is a conservative, although more hip a conservative than Cal Thomas, for instance. She's the paper's conservative voice in a very liberal city full of Democrats.

In this piece, dated 2 weeks ago, Saunders discusses Sen. Feinstein's re-election chances against her GOP opponent, Dick Mountjoy.

The link is:

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/debrasaunders/2006/04/03/192276.html

And here is the excerpt:

_ _ _ _ _


In the face of Feinstein's clear popularity among voters, it's impossible to imagine Mountjoy winning. When I ask GOP biggies what they think of his chances, they plead for me to change the subject and make me promise not to quote them by name.

_ _ _ _ _