So quite a few folks were disappointed with the last poll on the Senate race came out ... on the Democratic side, that is. But Stuart Rothenberg joined the party of Democratic strategists panning the reliability of Rasmussen Reports #'s on individual races across the country:
The numbers in the Wisconsin survey that stuck out like a sore thumb were the favorable and unfavorable ratings of Republican Senate hopeful Dave Westlake. According to the survey, 33 percent of those polled had a favorable view of Westlake, while 31 percent had an unfavorable opinion of him.
What's so weird about that? Well, Westlake isn't exactly a public figure.
The self-described "entrepreneur and small businessman" went to West Point and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, but as far as I can tell, he has no political experience and hasn't spent any money to get known. His year-end Federal Election Commission report showed that at the end of 2009 he had raised $33,000, spent $31,000 and had less than $3,000 in the bank.
In November, Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling company, surveyed the Wisconsin Senate race and found Westlake's ID at 2 percent favorable/9 percent unfavorable. Could Westlake's name ID have skyrocketed from 11 percent to 64 percent from November to February? No, not without a statewide media blitz.
Now ... let's take a look at the Rasmussen Reports #'s for Charlie from that January poll that showed Vitter with a 23 point lead:
Melancon, a congressman since 2004, is viewed favorably by 39% and unfavorably by 46%.
So ... 84% of Louisianans know enough about Charlie, a Congressman from South Louisiana, to give their opinion of him to an automated poll? I find that hard to believe, considering that only 61% gave their opinion about Charlie to Research 2000 back in March 2009, with 39% having no opinion of him at all.
