New poll: McCain crony’s approval rating in the toilet; Update: Gordon Smith to vote no on cloture

posted at 2:47 pm on June 22, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Ohhhhh, the schadenfreude.

I feel more alive than I have in years.

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) approval rating is taking a pounding in his home state as a result of his strong support for a bipartisan immigration reform bill, a new poll showed Friday.

Graham’s approval rating has sunk to 31 percent and he has a 40 percent disapproval rating, according to a poll released Friday by Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage. The new poll points to Graham’s support for the Senate immigration bill, which includes a path to citizenship, as a likely reason for his apparent unpopularity.

His disapproval among Republicans is higher — 46 percent — than among Democrats — 30 percent. Both give him an approval rating in the low 30s.

Only 21 percent of respondents approved of the immigration bill, while 63 percent disapproved. When asked whether they approved of Graham’s “efforts to reach a consensus among his colleagues” to pass the bill, 24 percent approved and 51 percent disapproved, including 57 percent of Republicans…

Graham has often been the target of primary rumors, and a November 2006 poll showed him performing better with Democrats. But in that poll, his overall approval rating was at 56 percent.

Here’s how his spokesman attempts to spin the poll:

“The only thing I know about InsiderAdvantage polls is they claim 40 percent of Americans want both President Bush and Dick Cheney impeached,” said Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop. “Having said that, Lindsey Graham has never governed by the polls — real or bogus — and is not about to start now. When South Carolinians are fairly informed about the immigration reform proposal, there is majority support for its provisions.”

40 percent really isn’t that far-fetched given the state of the Democratic Party. As for his proud boast that Graham will never stoop to something so low as listening to his constituents, that’s in the fine tradition of Maverick himself. How’s his presidential campaign doing these days?

We can do this, people. We can make it happen. We’ll dial up Kos, get him to guarantee a Blue Dog challenger (the only kind who’ll stand a chance in Carolina anyway) and for once the netroots shall be united. Exit question: Dare we deal with the devil?

Update: Another one of the undecideds falls our way: Gordon Smith just told radio host Lars Larson that he’ll vote no on cloture. That’s two more today; the other is Lamar Alexander.

Blowback

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