GOP, independents offset Lieberman's Democrat losses

RAW STORY
Published: Thursday August 17, 2006

If Connecticut were to choose today, likely voters would re-elect Joe Lieberman to his endangered Senate seat, according to the latest poll conducted by Quinnipiac University.

In the survey, 49 percent of registered voters said they would choose Lieberman, leaving Senate Democratic primary winner Ned Lamont behind with 38 percent and all but trivializing Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger at 4 percent.

The former vice presidential candidate, who lost the recent Democratic primary to Lamont, had strong support among likely Republican voters (75%) and also leads among likely independents (58%, with Lamont trailing at 36%). Lamont retained support among Democratic voters, with 63% saying they would vote for him.

The director of the poll said that "as long as Lieberman maintains this kind of support among Republicans, while holding onto a significant number of Democratic votes, [he] will be hard to beat."

The survey was conducted from August 10-14 with 1,319 Connecticut voters and has a margin of error of 2.7% percentage points. The survey also includes 1,083 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

An excerpt from the poll release follows...

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Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, running as an independent, gets 53 percent of likely voters, with 41 percent for Democratic primary winner Ned Lamont and 4 percent for Republican Alan Schlesinger, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Among registered voters, Sen. Lieberman gets 49 percent, followed by Lamont with 38 percent and Schlesinger with 4 percent. This compares to a 51 - 27 percent Lieberman lead over Lamont, with 9 percent for Schlesinger in a July 20 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

In this latest survey, Lieberman leads 75 - 13 - 10 percent among likely Republican voters, and 58 - 36 - 3 percent among likely independent voters, while likely Democratic voters back Lamont 63 - 35 percent. Two percent are undecided, but 28 percent of those who name a candidate might change their mind before Election Day.

"Sen. Lieberman's support among Republicans is nothing short of amazing. It more than offsets what he has lost among Democrats. As long as Lieberman maintains this kind of support among Republicans, while holding onto a significant number of Democratic votes, the veteran Senator will be hard to beat," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D.

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