Delaware Polling: O'Donnell's Win Is Democrats' Windfall

From Public Policy Polling, which has tracked several elections very accurately this cycle, Democrats find themselves leading substantially in Delaware today after Christine O'Donnell's surprise win in the Republican Senate primary. Just as they had hoped, and as Republican partisans had feared.

From PPP's Tom Jensen:

Republicans more than likely cost themselves a Senate seat last night. Chris Coons begins the general election in Delaware with a 50-34 lead over Christine O'Donnell. Mike Castle would have led Coons by a 45-35 margin.

While O'Donnell may have ingratiated herself to Delaware's small group of registered Republicans over the last month she's turned off everyone else. An August Daily Kos/PPP poll in Delaware found her favorability rating at 23/33. It's now 29/50...

Only 31% of voters in the state think O'Donnell's fit to hold public office while 49% think that she is not. Even with Republicans in the state less than half at 48% believe that she is. That may seem inconsistent with her victory last night but keep in mind that our general election poll includes GOP voters who were not planning to vote in yesterday's primary. Only 33% of independents and 16% of Democrats believe O'Donnell's fit.

Results taken from an automated survey of 958 likely Delaware voters September 11-12.