First PPP, Now Quinnipiac: Polls Don't Get Any Friendlier to Rick Scott

Can Rick Scott win re-election when two-thirds of Florida voters are against him? No, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. But Brown cautioned that at this time during the 2010 cycle, the poll numbers were just as stacked against Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race, showing then-Gov. Charlie Crist running away with it.

Speaking at the Florida Press Center Wednesday morning, Brown said the Q-poll just released puts Crist -- running for governor as a Democrat -- over Scott 50-34 percent among registered voters.

Not only that, but Alex Sink, the Democrat who lost to Scott in 2010, leads him 45-34 percent today.

Brown said Florida voters -- at this point anyway, which is before Scott's side has fired back a single shot -- say 50-40 percent that Crist's switch from Republican to independent to Democrat is a positive thing, showing that he is a pragmatist, rather than a negative thing showing that he lacks core beliefs.

Said Brown, "There isn't much good news in these numbers for Governor Rick Scott, but there is some. His large lead over Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam (47-24 percent) gives him some solace that he does not have to worry about an intraparty challenge. Scott's support among Republicans appears pretty solid, although he has a lot of fences to mend with independent voters and virtually no crossover appeal to Democrats."

The Wednesday Q-poll comes on the heels of a new, just-as-dismal-for-ScottPublic Policy Polling surveyreleased Tuesday. It found that the governor still suffers from a low approval rating and trails a handful of potential Democratic opponents.

PPP puts Scotts approval at 33 percent, compared with 57 percent disapproval. PPP also says, up against Crist, Scott is down 12 points, 52-40; against former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, Scott is down 7 points, 44-37; in a rematch with Sink, hes down 5 points, 45-40.

Brown, however, continued to caution that 20 months remain before the election, and after Scott's campaign machinery cranks up, the positive perception of Crist and the virtual oversight of Scott's accomplishments could dissolve.