John Loughlin is not named in the poll, but he may have fared far better than the elected officials who were.Nearly 6 in 10 registered voters in the First Congressional District would consider another candidate or vote to replace Loughlin's opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, according to a WPRI-TV, Channel 12 survey released Thursday night.
The poll offers a snapshot of an abysmal political climate for Democrats that could present serious problems for the eight-term incumbent Kennedy, according to pollster Joseph Fleming.
"It looks like it could be a very competitive race, which we haven't seen in many years," Fleming said, noting that Election Day is still nine months away. "I think people, right now, are really looking at who's in office, and they're considering somebody else."
Kennedy's office declined to respond to the WPRI poll, in which 28 percent of respondents from his district said they'd vote to replace the congressman if the election were held today; 31 percent said they'd consider another candidate; while 35 percent said they'd vote to reelect him.
Loughlin was not mentioned in the telephone poll of registered voters, conducted between Jan. 27 and 31 with a margin of error of at least 3.8 percent.
The Republican state representative downplayed the results, released on the same day he formally announced his candidacy. (Fleming said he had no contact with Loughlin and the timing was a coincidence.)
"At the end of the day, the only poll that counts is Nov. 2. You can't pay too much attention to this," Loughlin said.
Kennedy may have fared the worst, but none of Rhode Island's congressional representatives -- all Democrats -- did particularly well.
Just 33 percent approved of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's job performance, down 11 points from a mid-December Brown University poll. Fleming said a factor may have been the senator's controversial December statement that floor opponents of health-care reform were fueled by fanatics, "right-wing militia" and Aryan support groups that hate President Obama.
A spokesman for Whitehouse -- who's not up for reelection until 2012 -- declined to comment.
When asked to list their "most important issue," the majority of respondents (57 percent) cited the economy and jobs. Health-care was a distant second (14 percent), followed by taxes (8 percent), the deficit (8 percent), education (6) and national security (5).
At 51 percent, Mr. Obama's popularity is virtually unchanged from a Brown University poll in mid-December. But support for Mr. Obama's top domestic priority -- a national health-care overhaul -- has waned considerably. Just 38 percent of respondents favored Washington "health-care reform," down from 45 percent from December.
Sen. Jack Reed earned favorable ratings from 54 percent of respondents, while 44 percent of Second Congressional District voters approved of Rep. James R. Langevin.