Republican Connie Mack is shaping up as big trouble — not only for his fellow GOP contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination, but two-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, a poll shows Friday.

Mack, a Cape Coral congressman, is the favorite of 43 percent of Florida voters, to 39 percent for Nelson, according to the survey of 500 likely voters conducted Thursday by Rasmussen Reports. The poll has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.

The survey also shows Nelson holding comfortable leads over other Republican contenders, former U.S. Senate-appointee George LeMieux and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed Mack holding a formidable lead over the four GOP candidates already in the U.S. Senate race.

Mack’s father, who shares the same name, represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by Nelson.

Gov. Rick Scott’s popularity is on the rise but the first-term governor has a long way to go to convince voters he’s doing what they want, a new poll released this morning found.

The Quinnipiac University poll found Scott’s approval rating climbed to 35 percent, up 6 percentage points, since May.

But the survey of registered voters found more than 50 percent of Floridians still don’t like Scott’s policies or his handling of the state budget, and more than three-fourths don’t know that the budget did not raise taxes.

And the survey found that even voters who approve of Scott’s accomplishments in theory don’t know what he’s accomplished, and many don’t like him personally.

The poll showed voters approved by a 58-29 percent margin a budget approach that cuts only spending rather than a combination of spending and tax hikes. But more than three-quarters of registered voters who responded to the poll did not know that Scott’s budget did not raise taxes. And more than half – 51 percent – said the state budget is unfair to them, compared to 33 percent who found it fair. The poll also found that voters dislike Scott’s policies by a margin of 54-34 percent; forty-two percent of those polled said the budget cuts went too far, 20 percent said they did not go far enough and 25 percent agreed with the cuts.

“It would seem that Gov. Rick Scott and his aides have failed to get their message out,” Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown said.

Read the full story here.

Florida’s recent political past and present will collide this afternoon, when Gov. Rick Scott joins Charlie Crist at the Capitol for the unveiling of the former governor’s portrait.

The style of Crist’s portrait is expected to remain a secret until its unveiling, during an event scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.  But details which could have been included in the likeness of Florida’s 44th governor were mockingly cited during last month’s annual capitol Press Skits.

Crist could be depicted with his finger in the air, and a copy of a Quinnipiac University poll by his side, a line from a faux news broadcast suggested.  That would be a homage to the governor’s ability to respond to when, as he once famously put it, “things change.”

But while many saw Crist driven by popularity over principle, Scott is miles from his predecessor on the approval meter. Quinnipiac — in its most recent survey — found Floridians’ dislike for Scott has doubled since February. And while Crist claimed 70 percent approval ratings at this early stage in his term, Scott’s is half that — 35 percent.

So what?

Well, with the Legislature in its final three weeks, Scott’s political mandate could well be tested by lawmakers who so far have shown only middling interest in giving the new administration what it wants.

UPDATE: Crist shrugged off the poll results this morning, telling reporters that his main responsibility was to govern and “fight for the people.” Rubio’s campaign sent out a press release announcing the results, but did not offer a reaction.

Marco Rubio, who once trailed Gov. Charlie Crist by 31 points in polling on the 2010 Republican Senate primary, now has a narrow lead in the race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

The poll shows former Florida House speaker Rubio with 47 percent to Crist’s 44 percent among Republicans, a lead within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll also finds Florida voters disapprove of President Obama’s job performance by a 49-to-45 percent margin.

In hypothetical general election matchups, Rubio tops Democratic Senate front-runner Kendrick Meek by a 44-35 margin while Crist tops Meek 48-36.

(more…)

Barack Obama delivering his nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver on Aug. 28, 2008. Photo courtesy of Obama for America.

More from Obama’s campaign trail
A year ago Friday, candidate Barack Obama proved he could fill a football stadium with 80,000 cheering supporters.

But as president, Obama has seen his rock star status begin to fade.

In some polls, he’s even slightly less popular now than George W. Bush was at this point in his first term. At town hall meetings on health care, the bulk of the passion seems to come from activists opposed to Obama’s agenda.

It’s a far cry from what many supporters might have expected on Aug. 28, 2008 — the mile-high summit of Obama’s history-making road to the White House.

That night, the young Illinois senator stood on a raised blue platform in front of an elaborately columned backdrop in Denver’s Invesco Field, spoke to the country and accepted his party’s nomination for president.

The iconic images from that speech reflected a campaign that inspired volunteers across the nation. As a candidate, Obama drew on the deep reach of his grass-roots organization, his skill raising money on the Web, and the desire of tens of millions of voters to turn the page on Bush.

Since then, strategists attribute Obama’s declining poll numbers to his decision to quickly confront a series of controversial issues without the benefit of the scapegoat Bush represented in the campaign.

“The Parthenon they built behind Obama has crumbled,” Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson said.
(more…)

Worries about President Obama’s health-care proposals have contributed to his plummeting popularity among Floridians, according to poll results released Thursday, leaving him in a virtual tie between those who approve and disapprove of his performance.

Obama’s 47-percent approval rating among likely Florida voters was the lowest in the nation of any poll conducted by Quinnipiac University. The president’s approval rating in Florida dropped 11 points since June, the poll found.

In Thursday’s results, 48 percent of likely Florida voters disapproved of Obama’s performance. The survey had a margin of error of 3 percent.

The poll also found that nearly three out of four Floridians don’t trust Obama to keep his promise to reform health care without increasing the federal budget deficit.

On the other hand, the poll found that a majority of voters — 58 to 36 percent — support creating a government-backed health insurance plan to compete with private insurers, despite protests from opponents who liken the concept to socialism.

(more…)

Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum edged out Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat, by 38-34 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. Twenty percent of the state’s likely voters polled remain undecided.

That flip-flops Sink’s 38-34 percent lead among likely Florida voters two months ago. Sink remains relatively unknown to Floridians, according to the poll from Aug. 12-17 of 1,136 likely voters. Nearly two-thirds of those polled said they don’t know enough about her to have an opinion of her job performance.

McCollum and Sink are both leaving office after one term in pursuit of the governor’s mansion. Gov. Charlie Crist is also vacating after one term to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, who stepped down before his first term in Washington is complete.

The poll also shows Crist with a healthy 55-26 percent lead over GOP primary opponent, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. In June, Crist held a 54-23 percent margin over Rubio.