It's only March, but it looks like George LeMieux's relentless attacks on Connie Mack in the GOP race for U.S. Senate are benefiting Democrat Bill Nelson.
How else to explain that the latest Quinnipiac poll now shows the venerable (and vulnerable) incumbent now up by 8 points over Mack, when a similar poll in January had the two in a virtual tie.
Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown attributes Nelson's rise to the female vote, again affirming (for now) the perception that Democratic charges of a Republican "war on women" seem to have some resonance.
"President Barack Obama's surge in Florida is helping Sen. Bill Nelson's re-election chances," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Just as President Obama's lead in the presidential race in the Sunshine State is fueled by female voters, so too is Nelson's. He also is running better among several groups, including whites and Catholics and voters 50 to 64 years old."
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2012.