Brown More Popular Than Obama and John Kerry... In Massachusetts

Sure, it's easy to get blue about our blue-state friend when he flips to become the deciding vote on gigantic financial regulation reform with more unintended consequences than, well, the last giant piece of legislation with a bunch of blanks to be filled in at a later date by regulators.

But it's days like this when, depsite any votes, he makes me smile again. John Kerry has a pick-up truck on order right now, and he'll be riding that running board like a wind surfing board by 2014:

After less than five months in Washington, Brown outpolls such Democratic stalwarts as President Obama and US Senator John F. Kerry in popularity, the poll indicates. He gets high marks not only from Republicans, but even a plurality of Democrats views him favorably.

Brown is viewed favorably by 55 percent of those polls and unfavorably by only 18 percent. His favorable/unfavorable among Independents, who make up the majority of the state's voting population but traditionally lean Democratic, is 55-11. Democrats see him more negatively, 42-32.

Kerry and Obama have similar (though slightly lower) favorable numbers than Brown, but their unfavorables are much higher:

In contrast, Kerry was viewed favorably by 52 percent of those polled and unfavorably by 37 percent of the respondents. And in a sign that Obama is a polarizing figure even in Massachusetts, 54 percent of the respondents view him favorably and 41 percent unfavorably, according to the polling data.

Most Massachusetts voters say they still plan to vote for Democrats (42-27), but there seems to be hope in the open-seat race for William Delahunt's spot:

Voters in the Southeastern and Cape and Islands communities that make up the district are evenly divided on whether they will vote for a Republican or Democrat.

Interestingly, despite some votes that have infuriated small-government conservative supporters, this poll shows 71 percent of Massachusetts voters who back the Tea Party movement think he's done a good job.

As has often been the case this year, and remains dangerous for Democrats, especially in a state where they're entrenched, it's all about the anti-incumbency:

The support for Brown, whose victory became a symbol of voter anger, is consistent with widespread sentiment that incumbents in Massachusetts and Washington “need to be replaced with a new crop of leaders.’’ That statement was supported by 50 percent of those polled, while 28 percent said they trust the incumbents.