It turns out that cowering before the NRA’s Board of Directors is not a wise political move. Public Policy Polling is finding substantial erosion in the approval rating of several senators who opposed universal background checks for gun purchases. Perhaps doing nothing about gun violence in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre was not quite in tune with the sentiments and values of the American people. It sure looks that way.
-After just 3 months in office Jeff Flake has already become one of the most unpopular Senators in the country. Just 32% of voters approve of him to 51% who disapprove and that -19 net approval rating makes him the most unpopular sitting Senator we’ve polled on, taking that label from Mitch McConnell.
70% of Arizona voters support background checks to only 26% who are opposed to them. That includes 92/6 favor from Democrats, 71/24 from independents, and 50/44 from Republicans. 52% of voters say they’re less likely to support Flake in a future election because of this vote, compared to only 19% who say they’re more likely to. Additionally voters say by a 21 point margin, 45/24, that they trust senior colleague John McCain more than Flake when it comes to gun issues.
-When we polled Alaska in February Lisa Murkowski was one of the most popular Senators in the country with a 54% approval rating and only 33% of voters disapproving of her. She’s seen a precipitous decline in the wake of her background checks vote though. Her approval is down a net 16 points from that +21 standing to +5 with 46% of voters approving and 41% now disapproving of her. Murkowski has lost most of her appeal to Democrats in the wake of her vote, with her numbers with them going from 59/25 to 44/44. And the vote hasn’t increased her credibility with Republican either- she was at 51/38 with them in February and she’s at 50/39 now.
Mark Begich is down following his no vote as well. He was at 49/39 in February and now he’s at 41/37. His popularity has declined with Democrats (from 76/17 to 59/24) and with independents (from 54/32 to 43/35), and there has been no corresponding improvement with Republicans. He had a 24% approval rating with them two months ago and he has a 24% approval rating with them now.
60% of Alaska voters support background checks to just 35% opposed, including a 62/33 spread with independents. 39% of voters say they’re less likely to vote for each of Begich and Murkowski in their next elections based on this vote, while only 22% and 26% say they’re more likely to vote for Begich and Murkowski respectively because of this.
-We saw serious improvement in Rob Portman’s poll numbers in the second half of 2012 following his consideration as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, but he’s taken a nose dive in 2013. Portman’s approval has dropped a net 18 points over the last 6 months from +10 (35/25) in October to now -8 (26/34) in April. Portman’s popularity decline has come across the board with Democrats (from 15/39 to 8/50), Republicans (62/11 to 46/19), and independents (28/23 to 24/32) alike.
72% of Ohio voters support background checks, including 87% of Democrats, 73% of independents, and 56% of Republicans. 36% of voters in the state say they’re less likely to support Portman in a future election because of this vote to only 19% who consider it to be a reason to support him.
-And in Nevada Dean Heller has seen a more modest decline in his approval numbers, from 47/42 right before the election to 44/41 now. However with the independent voters who were critical to his narrow victory in November, his approval has dropped from 52/37 then to now 42/42.
70% of voters in the state support background checks compared to just 24% who are opposed to them. That includes 87% of Democrats, 65% of independents, and 54% of Republicans. 46% say they’re less likely to support Heller the next time he’s up for reelection compared to only 25% who are more likely to because of this vote, and as we saw last fall Heller has very little margin for error.
Taken together these results make it pretty clear that this issue could be a serious liability for the Senators who opposed overwhelmingly popular background checks in the Senate vote earlier this month.
At some point, poll numbers like these should begin to change the common wisdom that the best way for red state Democrats to win is to get an ‘A’ rating from the NRA.
The House Republicans have voted to repeal ObamaCare over thirty times. Despite the headline of this piece, I see no reason to be that redundant, but I hope that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) makes the Senate vote on his background check amendment several more times.
Ultimately, opponents of universal background checks are voting scared. Only a handful of these folks think it’s bad law. They just don’t want to anger people who love guns, which is understandable. But they’re less concerned about getting shot than with losing their jobs.
What these polling numbers show, however, is that voting against background checks is not good for job security, even in red states.