THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250452
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
If it were up to Virginia voters, President Clinton could eke out a re-election victory over former Vice President Dan Quayle.
But the commander-in-chief had little else to cheer about in a statewide poll released Tuesday.
Clinton's performance rating has been stagnant since March: He garnered the approval of only 39 percent of 809 registered Virginia voters interviewed from Jan. 16 to Jan. 18 by Maryland-based Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc.
The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, was commissioned by several news organizations, including The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
Following on the heels of the Republican takeover of Congress, only 28 percent said they would re-elect the Democratic president, while 72 percent said they would either replace him or consider another candidate.
Clinton's personal popularity has remained consistently low in Virginia, at 36 percent. The president posted his highest numbers in Hampton Roads, where 49 percent approved of his performance.
Yet the president has more to fear than disenchanted voters, according to the poll. In a head-to-head contest, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole bests the president 49 percent to 40 percent.
Retired Gen. Colin Powell trounces Clinton by an even larger margin - 50 percent to 35 percent.
Clinton, however, can take solace in that he wins 46 percent to 41 percent over Quayle and 44 percent to 36 percent over U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas.
KEYWORDS: POLL SURVEY by CNB