According to a new Washington Post poll, Virginia voters are largely in line with the rest of the nation in their views about President Bush and the Iraq War, but they aren’t holding it against the state GOP:
Virginia residents’ negative feelings toward the Bush administration and the national Republican Party have not tarnished state Republicans or broadly diminished their chances to keep control of the General Assembly after the Nov. 6 election.
Although Virginia residents say they strongly disapprove of the war in Iraq, more than half of the state’s voters approve of the state Republican Party, and a sizable majority has confidence in the state government to make the right decisions for the future.
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The mood in Virginia toward the war and the national Republican Party has darkened this year. In the Post-Kaiser-Harvard survey, just one in three independents in Virginia had a favorable impression of the Republican Party nationally, compared with 53 percent who felt that way about the national Democratic Party. The negative view of the national GOP stemmed largely from the war; six in 10 residents said it was not worth fighting.
But the survey suggests that Virginia voters are compartmentalizing their views about state and national politics and might not punish state GOP leaders for decisions made in Washington. Fifty-four percent of voters said they have a favorable impression of the Virginia Republican Party.
This is, in some sense, good news for the Virginia GOP because it means that they at least have a chance of holding on to their control of the legislature without having to worry about fighting against a public that is soured on the Republican Party on a national level.
