THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310461
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 37 lines
More people seem to know Democrat Mark Warner after the high-dollar ad blitz he waged over the past month.
But they're not seeing and hearing the things that would make them vote for him Nov. 5.
According to a new poll, Republican Sen. John Warner holds a wide lead early in this year's U.S. Senate contest. The three-term incumbent is besting his opponent 53 percent to 28 percent, according to Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research, in a poll released Tuesday. Nineteen percent were undecided.
Mark Warner is accomplishing a fundamental goal, though: He's getting Virginians to recognize his name. The poll suggests that only 13 percent don't know who Mark Warner is, compared with 61 percent a year ago.
Low name recognition is a hurdle for challengers in any race, mostly because they haven't had the publicity and scrutiny that public office provides. But name recognition isn't enough to win an election - candidates also have to persuade voters they're right for the job.
For that, citizens want most to know who has the qualities and credentials to provide strong leadership, a Virginian-Pilot poll suggests. They want ideas about fighting crime, revitalizing the economy and job pool and moving beyond partisan politics toward making decisions and setting priorities.
And so far, Mark Warner hasn't left any strong impressions, according to the Mason-Dixon poll. The most people - 39 percent - had a neutral opinion of the Democrat.
Some 54 percent, meanwhile, had a favorable opinion of Republican John Warner. The Republican got a negative rating from 16 percent of those polled; the Democrat, 21 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 points up or down. by CNB