I predicted quite a while ago I felt Byrd would not survive this election season. He has become a mockery of the Senate in his ramblings. I have some respect for the man’s years of service, but at the same time he is tainted goods with his KKK past and resistence to minorities in leadership positions (Thomas, Rice, Rogers, etc). WVA can do much better than this.

Ed Morrissey posted on a new poll out which supports this prediction. He links to a poll that shows Byrd is in serious trouble already.

A new poll shows Sen. Robert Byrd and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito would run neck and neck in a possible campaign for the Senate seat now held by Byrd.

An RMS Strategies Poll released today reports that 46 percent of 401 registered voters in West Virginia would vote for Byrd if the election were held now.

A total of 43 percent picked Capito, R-W.Va., though she has not announced her intention to run.

This is great news for the GOP. With Byrd in trouble (as are other democrats in deep red states) and Michael Steele possibly taking another blue seat the GOP is going to be pressing hard on the cash strapped democrats in 2006. Not to mention what would happen if the GOP can make NJ competitive. The dems would be defending seats in WV, MD and NJ. It would be nearly impossible for them to do this and sustain the red state dems and make inroads into GOP seats.

I felt Byrd’s support of the filibuster deal was a sign of how bad things were for him. I think I can feel vindicated in this. Reps are well on to a 3+ pickup in 2006.

If anyone thinks the polls will be accurate, think again. They will only be reflecting a trend one way or the other. So many voters will make the decision at the polling place, and are probably registering a Byrd choice simply out of habit.

Because Byrd has never been strongly challenged during his nearly half-century in office, the potential campaign would cover “all new territory for West Virginia,” Rupp said.

Half a century.. Think about it.