A new poll commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is being billed as proving that Sen. John Cornyn (R) could be vulnerable against a Democrat in 2008, when the first-term Senator is up for re-election.

The Hamilton Beattie & Staff survey of 800 registered voters described as “likely” to vote was conducted April 11-15. It showed Cornyn to have favorable/unfavorable rating of 41 percent to 19 percent, with 39 percent of respondents saying they were not familiar enough with him to rate him either way.

The poll, with a 3.5 percent margin of error, had Cornyn leading a generic Democrat in a hypothetical re-election race 47 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided.

No candidate has emerged as of yet to challenge Cornyn. But the DSCC argues the poll’s findings show Cornyn is vulnerable to the “right kind” of Texas Democrat.

Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh said Democrats’ failure to recruit a candidate prove that the DSCC’s poll is really a ploy to raise money from Texas Democrats to use in races in other states.

“National Democrats are eager to soak Texas trial lawyers for big donations to be used in other states. This poll is a part of their tactics,” Walsh said. “They know Sen. Cornyn is in very solid shape in Texas, as evidence by their recruiting failure thus far.”
— David M. Drucker