Vermont Polls: Sanders up 56-35 for Senate, but toss up for House Race

[WI_DEM]

Bernie Sanders has a strong lead in the US Senate race leading 56-35 percent according to a new American Research Group poll.

The race to replace Sanders in the House is a toss up with Republican candidate Rainville leading Democrat Welch by 42-41 percent.

Governor Jim Douglas is leading Democrat Scudder Parker by 47-36 percent in his bid for a second term.

www.americanresearchgroup.com

[Selatius]

1. I can't believe a state that will elect a democratic socialist to the...

US Senate will have such a close race between Welch and Rainville. Has Welch failed to define himself in the face of Rainville?

[WI_DEM]

2. Douglas has proved to be a popular governor according to

Survey USA recent rankings of the state governors Douglas has a 60% approval rating and 32% disapproval rating. And he is a republican. Sanders is well known and people have voted for him statewide before and so they are comfortable. His "Socialism" isn't much different than a liberal Democrat like Leahy or Feingold.

[cali]

3. The answer to that would be yes

Welch has not, to date, defined himself well, and it's a damned shame because he's a good guy. The better news is that Bernie is still so far ahead of Richie "rich" Tarrent, despite the wall to wall Hollywood style TV ads that Tarrent's been running, and Parker isn't as far behind Douglas as he was.

[warrens]

4. Vermont isn't really all that liberal...just very tolerant

If they like ya, and your politics aren't too out in left field, they'll keep reelecting you, no matter the party affiliation. Jeffords was a Republican, but was probably as liberal as almost all Democrats. And he can keep getting elected til a few years after his death.

[Vinca]

5. Not a surprise. Bernie's loved by much of the state.

I follow Vermont politics because I'm right across the river. Tarrant has run a silly campaign with phoney, folksy radio commercials. At the beginning of the campaign he tried to buy campaign workers by offering students $3,000 and a personal computer to volunteer. Lately he's been comparing himself to George Aiken which is hilarious. As for Rainville and Welch, it was disclosed last week that Rainville got a $4,000 campaign contribution from a Florida software company and turned around and lobbied the Vermont Senators to get funding for something for the Daytona Beach based firm. I'm not crazy about Welch because of a nuclear power plant issue and I'm sure that's one thing hurting him. If the sheeple "Vahmontahs" wake up, they'll realize Rainville has the potential to be a K Street princess and vote for Welch. (Editing to add I'm not implying all Vermonters are sheeple - just the die hard Republicans.)