MI: Stabenow leads Michigan poll; Granholm could face fight

[Sam Spade]

Well, if the GOP can actually get a good candidate, which I'm not so sure about.  Obviously, Candice Miller is the best candidate for anything statewide, but my bet is that she's still thinking that Carl Levin will retire in 2008 and leave an open seat then.

Stabenow looks safe, though, to me.

[Sam Spade]

Why is Levin thinking of retiring? He's not that old.

Never said he was.  He will be 74 in 2008, btw, not old (like Byrd), but not young either.

But that's been one of the reasons among people for a while now as to the reason why Miller so far is challenging neither Stabenow, nor Granholm.

Winning open seats is inherently much easier than beating incumbents in the Senate for a whole host of reasons.

[Sam Spade]

Why does this article quote a 6-month-old EPIC/MRA poll? How useless.

Granholm could be in trouble, if the Michigan GOP can find a half-decent opponent, which they seem to be failing to do.

This poll is new, conducted from May 22-26 by EPIC/MRA.

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw116623_20050602.htm

Fwiw, EPIC/MRA seems to be the Michigan polling firm that leans too far to the left, whereas the Detroit News/Mitchell Research one leans too far to the right.

[Sam Spade]

Im guessing the high unemployment rate in Michigan is what's killing Granholm.  Why isn't this affecting Stabenow, too?

Probably because she's a national, as opposed to statewide, politician would be my guess.

As noted by Gerry Daly, at Daly Thoughts (one of Alcon and mine's favorite sites), her problem seems to be stemming from a disconnect from independent women voters, oddly enough, who give her a 37% approval rating and a 58% disapproval rating.