The American Spectator

It’s not easy for a two-term U.S. Senate incumbent to have a 35 percent favorable standing with 42 percent unfavorable and still hold a seven-point lead over his opponent. But that’s where the latest Public Policy Media poll puts Florida Democrat Bill Nelson.

For the third straight election, “Lucky” Nelson has drawn a weak Republican opponent. This time it’s Connie Mack IV, son of still popular former U.S. Senator Connie Mack III. But most Florida voters have not pegged young Mack, a three-term congressman for the Ft. Myers area, as a chip off the old block. The PPP poll shows Nelson ahead of Mack 45-38, a five-point improvement for Nelson over a similar survey done in late July.

Mack IV’s baggage includes an undistinguished pre-politics career, incidents of road rage and bar fights in his younger days, and a not so noteworthy congressional career. But his voting record has been conservative. Nelson’s baggage has been a consistently liberal voting record, including votes for Obama’s stimulus slush fund, Obamacare, Cap and trade, and other liberal larks that are not popular in Florida.

Mack argues that he has matured out of his bad behavior. He has led Nelson in polls on a couple of occasions. He has two months left to convince Florida voters that an undistinguished conservative is preferable to a liberal of any kind.