Insider Poll:

Cleland-Chambliss Rematch Might Be Dems' Strongest Hope

(10/26/07) An InsiderAdvantage / Majority Opinion survey conducted Oct. 24-25 of 400 registered voters in Georgia indicates that a rematch of U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss versus former Sen. Max Cleland, who lost to Chambliss in 2002, might be the Democratic Party’s strongest hope for reclaiming the Senate seat.

The poll asked voters which candidate they favored if given a choice between Chambliss and Cleland.

The results:

Chambliss - 36 percent
Cleland - 24 percent
Undecided - 40 percent

The survey showed some interesting numbers, said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery, noting that while white voters were decided at a rate of nearly 71 percent, African-American voters were undecided at a rate of 73 percent. Similarly, he said, 73 percent of all Republicans were decided, with Chambliss receiving almost all of that vote, while 47 percent of Democrats remained undecided.

“The key to this survey versus other surveys that have been conducted with other potential U.S. Senate candidates is that when you add Cleland to the mix, the undecided vote soars, leaving Chambliss well below the 50 percent mark,” he said. “My guess is that a well-funded Cleland campaign would still be an underdog, but would have more than a legitimate chance of potentially pulling off an upset, given the fact that among independent voters, Chambliss led by only 7 points with some 38 percent stating that they were undecided.”

The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percent and the poll was weighted for age, gender, race and political affiliation.