Could An Undecided Coleman-Franken Race In Minnesota Help Chambliss In Georgia?

Interesting numbers from Scott Rasmussen. The generic vote for Congress since the election shows much smaller margins for the Democrats than they enjoyed before the election. Are voters saying, "Hey, now that we see how many Democrats there are in Congress, we're not sure we want any more"? If so, that buttresses a finding in Rasmussen's poll on the Georgia Senate runoff between incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. Rasmussen shows Chambliss ahead by 50 percent to 46 percent (which was actually the rounded off percentages in the November 4 election, with Chambliss barely under the 50 percent mark). In addition, 52 percent (including 9 percent of Martin voters) say they're less likely to vote for Martin if it will give Democrats 60 seats in the Senate. Only 38 percent say they are more likely. This suggests that Chambliss stands to do better (a) if the Minnesota race is decided for Democrat Al Franken on or before December 2 or (b) if the Minnesota winner is undetermined December 2 than (c) if Republican Norm Coleman is declared the winner by that time. Since it seems like the Minnesota race will not be decided until well after December 2, it looks like the don't-let-them-get-60 argument will help Chambliss.

Another interesting result from Rasmussen: By a 48 percent-to-35 percent margin, voters say it's better for a big company like GM to go bankrupt rather than for the government to subsidize such companies. I'm not sure you can regard opinion on such heretofore unfamiliar issues as firm and settled, but it's interesting that the weight of opinion is against such bailouts/rescue packages.

By Michael Barone