without knowing more about the methodology, size of sample, way questions were worded, and so on, for each survey. Personally, I'm inclined to go with this latest survey, based on the feel I get out on the ground, listening to comments. What I also hear is, people are not pleased with the performance of the Congressional Democratic leadership, and prefer Webb's general attitude and efforts as a contrast to, say, Harry Reid.

Uses real live interviewers and probes to make sure they get a true random sample of voters.  They also spend a lot more on their polls.

Survey USA uses a recorded voice and has no way of verifying if the person pressing buttons is a voter and their polls are usually done for a lower cost.  Also, the Survey USA polls tend to bounce around for these senators and it would be more concerning if Webb showed a similar downward rating for several months in a row.

I wonder if the robo-call is run simultaneously for both Senators, or if SurveyUSA runs separate calls on each Senator. 

The latter case would be harder to explain in reference to the skewing, the former would seem to offer a possible explanation.  (e.g. the people who are most likely to spend their time completing a robo-poll are ones with strong opinions.  If voters are only mildly positive in their views about Webb, they might not even bother to complete the poll, which would result in the poll capturing mostly strong positives and strong negative numbers with an insufficient record of "leaners").

Pure speculation, of course, but the difference in "no opinions" between the two polls is an eye catching number.  Something has to account for the discrepancy.

50% approval still isn't great, but the 27% disapproval looks substantially better than the 40% + found in SurveyUSA.  Hopefully Webb can boost his positives into the mid to high 50s sometime within the couple years. 

Virginians prefer a Democrat to a Republican for President by 11%.

Mark Warner has a 61% approval rating....among Republicans!

Todd Beeton's got a post about it on MyDD entitled, "Behold The Bluing of Virginia"

In the Post's poll, Warner's approval ratings by party affiliation are as follows:

Rep - 67%
Dem - 63%
Ind - 62% 

In SurveryUSA's poll, Warner's approval ratings are as follows:

Rep - 64%
Dem - 64%
Ind - 71%

So each poll's findings for Warner are pretty consisent.

In the Post's poll, Webb's approval ratings by party affiliation are as follows:

Rep - 36%
Dem - 67%
Ind - 49%

In SurveyUSA's poll, Webb's approval ratings by party affiliation are as folows:

Rep - 32%
Dem - 61%
Ind - 41%

There is more of a discrepancy in the two polls as far as Webb is concerned. 

And in the SurveyUSA's poll, 27% of Dems disaprove of the job he has done, as do 29% of liberals.  These numbers are high; any Dem running for president with disaproval numbers like that would get clobbered in a general election. 

But a liberal will vote for the lesser of two evils.  Trust me, that 29% will fall in line, even if it is more of a vote against the conservative opponent.

That, to me, is the most important part of the poll.  Gilmore is winning a primary with Davis by big numbers.  Again, but Davis is right, he has a lot more room than Gilmore to grow.

It's hard to take any of the Davis numbers seriously when 50% don't even have an opinion of him

MyDD adds:

The senate race should become a bit clearer on Friday when the 84-member Republican State Central Committee decides whether to hold a convention or primary in June, 2008 to determine who the Republican senate nominee will be. The WaPo article suggests that Davis would benefit from a primary (versus a convention where several thousand GOP activists meet to decide the nominee) and in fact the impending decision by the committee may actually be the determining factor in whether Davis ultimately gets in the race.

So, what does Tom Davis do if Republicans choose a convention, and WHEN his wife loses to Chap Petersen?  My guess, if both of those things happen, is that Davis won't run, but he does have a huge ego so we'll see...

Did you notice how many negative comments about Webb there were on the Post blog on this article?  What gives?  You should put your (positive)comments on the Post blog to provide some balance.