MainePulse Survey: Snowe at 53%
September 3, 2006
Results of a MainePulse survey, released Friday, showed Maine's incumbent Republican Senator Olympia Snowe with only 53% of likely voters saying they would vote for her. Snowe's numbers in the latest MainePulse survey were significantly lower than her job approval rating of 72% in a March MainePulse tally, and were also down considerably from three Rasmussen polls taken this summer, in which her likely-vote totals hovered around 66%.

"This is the first independent study we have seen that confirms what we've been hearing on the ground," said Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Jean Hay Bright, who is challenging Snowe in this fall's election. "People are starting to realize that Olympia Snowe is no longer the moderate she once was, that she is a war hawk who voted with the Bush administration 82% of the time during his first term." (Source: Congressional Quarterly)

A Strategic Marketing survey done in mid-July that showed three out of four Mainers said the Iraq war was not worth the casualties and costs, is a statistic that does not bode well for Snowe, said Hay Bright, who has staunchly opposed the Iraq War since its inception.

"People are starting to hold Republicans accountable for the mess this country is in," Hay Bright said. "And that's as it should be, since they are in charge in Washington. Only by changing who's in charge will we start to turn this country around."

Unlike the Republican Snowe, who dropped 19 points between her job approval rating in March and her likely-vote in August, scores for Maine's two Democratic Congressmen, Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, held constant. The MainePulse surveys showed a 68% job approval rating for Allen in March, with 69% likely voting for him in August. For Michaud, the figures were 74% in March and 75% in August.

The MainePulse survey of 993 people was taken between Aug. 16 and Aug. 25, 2006. In March, 1,057 people were surveyed. MainePulse is a joint initiative of MaineToday.com and Portland Research Group.

MainePulse Press release:
http://business.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=3380

Rasmussen Report, August 2006:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/August%202006/MaineSenate.htm