June 14, 2013 09:52 AM UTC

Udall Looks Strong In Otherwise Ugly Poll For Dems

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• by: Colorado Pols

The second half of Quinnipiac University's polling of Colorado out today, via National Journal:

In a new Quinnipiac University poll filled with bad trends for Gov. John Hickenlooper, poor ratings for President Obama, and lackluster early numbers for 2016 Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Mark Udall's, D-Colo., approval ratings stand out as a possible bright spot for his party.

The first-term senator's job approval is below 50 percent but still firmly positive: 45 percent of survey respondents said they approved of how Udall has handled his job, while 31 percent said they disapproved. Another 24 percent refused to answer or said they didn't know, meaning Udall has some name recognition to work on ahead of his first reelection campaign in 2014. Udall's ratings were virtually identical with independent voters.

The poll didn't include any ballot tests matching Udall against potential Republican opponents. Forty percent of voters said Udall deserves reelection, while 33 percent said he doesn't. But most of the space between Udall's approval rating and that number comes from Democrats, according to the poll's crosstabs, and those voters are likely to get onboard with Udall as the election draws nearer.

From the poll memo:

Voters disapprove 54 – 43 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing. Disapproval is 90 – 9 percent among Republicans and 58 – 40 percent among independent voters while Democrats approve 91 – 6 percent. Women approve 51 – 46 percent while men disapprove 62 – 35 percent. White voters disapprove 59 – 39 percent as Hispanic voters approve 64 – 31 percent. 

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall gets a 45 – 31 percent approval rating, with less partisan, gender and ethnic division than President Obama.

As we said yesterday, there's little good news to be had for Democrats in these new Quinnipiac polls, though many of the problems for Colorado's majority party seem fixable at least. Some of this may be attributable to oversampling of Republicans and unaffiliated voters, and dwelling unduly on a single issue–but certainly among this sample, there's an obvious shift that signals much work ahead for the well-entrenched Democratic majority in this state.

Sen Mark Udall's approval numbers, while perhaps showing lower name ID than an incumbent Senator would prefer, are very good, and stand in marked contrast to the polled state of public opinion of Gov. John Hickenlooper and majority Democrats in the Assembly. Sen. Udall's willingness to buck the Obama administration in defense of civil liberties, shown most clearly in recent days during the NSA phone records scandal, may prove politically invaluable to him–contrast he needs to differentiate himself in an iconoclastic and unpredictable climate. And considering that a recent Gallup poll shows that Congress now has the lowest approval ratings of any institution, ever, Udall should be feeling alright about his own numbers.