Politics

Capito Vs. Byrd?

Shelley Moore Capito R-WV 2nd

Vs.

Senator Robert Byrd R-VW

A new poll shows the Byrd – Capito race too close to call:

A new poll shows Sen. Robert Byrd and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito would run neck and neck in a possible campaign for the Senate seat now held by Byrd.

An RMS Strategies Poll released today reports that 46 percent of 401 registered voters in West Virginia would vote for Byrd if the election were held now.

A total of 43 percent picked Capito, R-W.Va., though she has not announced her intention to run.

And 11 percent said they were undecided — a percentage that could sway the vote either way.

Byrd, a powerful Democrat in his seventh term, dismissed the telephone poll conducted between May 11 and 18 as one of many attempts to predict the outcome of a race a full year and a half in the future.

“They’ll all be different,” Byrd said. “But no poll can change my job of fighting for West Virginians. People have more important things to worry about right now than that election — Social Security and health care and taking care of their children.

“My job is to use my experience, seniority and know-how to fight for the people of West Virginia each and every day.”

But, the poll results foretell trouble ahead for a forty year plus veteran of the U.S. Senate.

Political analyst Robert Rupp of West Virginia Wesleyan College said the poll could indicate such a race would be very tight.

“It is basically a tie,” Rupp said. “This shows it’s surprisingly close. This means by just putting her name out, she has done very well with this snapshot.”

Because Byrd has never been strongly challenged during his nearly half-century in office, the potential campaign would cover “all new territory for West Virginia,” Rupp said.

“This poll shows it might be a harder race than what some proponents suggest,” he said.

This race bears scrutiny and would affect Blue and Red state balance in the Senate.

Byrd is vulnerable.

But, will Capito give up a safe seat and roll the dice?

Update # 1

This West Virgina Site has a great take on the Robert Byrd Re-election race.

Michelle Malkin has the Vulnerable Bobby Byrd:

Lots of political blogs buzzing about new poll results showing that Sen. Robert Byrd’s re-election bid won’t be smooth sailing:

A new poll shows Sen. Robert Byrd and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito would run neck and neck in a possible campaign for the Senate seat now held by Byrd.

An RMS Strategies Poll released today reports that 46 percent of 401 registered voters in West Virginia would vote for Byrd if the election were held now. A total of 43 percent picked Capito, R-W.Va., though she has not announced her intention to run. And 11 percent said they were undecided — a percentage that could sway the vote either way.


Don Surber
fills us in on Capito.


Daly Thoughts
provides more polling background and says “if the poll is spot on (or if sampling error is actually in Byrd’s favor) then, ladies and gentlemen, there is a very strong possibility of an upset in West Virginia of monumental proportions.”

Red State declares: Byrd jumps the shark.

More reax: Captain’s Quarters, The American Thinker

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Previous:

The life and times of Robert “Sheets” Byrd

Outside the Beltway has Robert Byrd in Re-Election Trouble?

Don Surber points us to new polling data showing West Virginia’s answer to Emperor Palpatine down to a three point lead–i.e., a statistical dead heat–over his presumptive Republican opponent in 2006, Shelley Moore Capito.

My strong guess is that Byrd will either choose not to run for health and family reasons or that he’ll manage to win another term when all’s said and done. While he’s a characature of a Senator, he’s brought home smokehouse after smokehouse full of bacon for his state, all of it stamped with his brand.

Via Glenn Reynolds, who is also amused by Surber’s logo.