The main findings from a brand new NBC/WSJ/Marist poll of Virginia?
1. Barack Obama leads Willard “Mitt” Romney by 5 points (49%-44%) among likely voters, by 7 points (49%-42%) among registered voters. So, c’mon, registered voters, move yourselves over to “likely” please! 🙂
2. Tim Kaine and George Allen are tied at 46% each among likely voters, with Kaine ahead by 1 point (46%-45%) among registered voters. I continue to find it fascinating that Obama’s doing better against Romney in Virginia than Kaine’s doing against Allen. Are there really Obama-Allen voters out there? It seems highly unlikely to me.
3. Obama’s got a +10 favorable rating (53%-43%) in Virginia, compared to Romney’s +1 favorable (46%-45%) among likely voters. Again, it’s even a little better for Democrats when looking at registered voters.
4. Note that this poll does not include Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Virgil Goode (Constitution) or Jill Stein (Green). My guess is that if they were included, it would bump up Obama by another couple points.
So, overall excellent news, but as always, let’s not take this in any way as a signal to slow down our efforts, but instead as the green light to floor it, put the pedal to the metal, and any other cliche you can think of, for the next 53 days (or so) until Election Day!
P.S. Obama leads in Florida (49%-44%) and Ohio (50%-43%) as well. No wonder why Willard’s been flailing around, lashing out, acting like a crazy man, etc. recently.