In November of 2008 it was InsiderAdvantage, polling for WSB-TV/ABC Atlanta that showed presidential candidate Barack Obama garnering 47% of the vote against Republican John McCain in 2008. That’s exactly where Obama landed—close enough to force incumbent GOP Senator Saxby Chambliss into a post General Election runoff.
As they say, that was then, this is now. A recent InsiderAdvantage poll of 459 registered voters in Georgia (conducted October 18, with a margin of error of +/- 5%) shows the following:
"If the election were held today would you vote to reelect President Barack Obama, or vote for whomever is the Republican nominee?"
Obama: 38%
Republican: 54%
Undecided/No Opinion: 8%
If anyone in the Obama camp believes Georgia, at this time, is in play, they are wrong. Independent voters support any GOP nominee over Obama by a 49%-to-38% margin. Democrats are at a 79% support level for the president, with Republicans at nearly 90% for any GOP nominee.
InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV political analyst Matt Towery: “Keep in mind that this is a GOP generic ballot test. President Obama does better when polled against specific names. However, his numbers are so anemic right now, that it would take a major political turn to cause Georgia to become a competitive state for him in 2012. I know, because polling for Politico and WSB in 2008, I had Obama close in Georgia, winning Florida, winning North Carolina, and winning Virginia. All of those polls proved to be correct. But 2012 is shaping up in an entirely different manner.”
http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_1028_2197.aspx
