Poll: Nebraskans Turned Off To Nelson After Health Care Fight

A new poll by the Omaha World-Herald shows Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is losing support back home after the Senate health care debate.

The poll shows just 42% of Nebraskans approve of the job Nelson's doing in the Senate, while 48% disapprove. More than 60% of respondents said they were opposed to the health care bill and "a majority" were opposed to Nelson's vote in favor it of it. That's after Nelson negotiated a unique deal in exchange for his vote that requires the federal government pay the full costs of expanding Medicaid in the Nebraska in perpetuity.

The dip in approval would worry any politician, but it's especially surprising for Nelson, whose political career has been marked by broad support in his state. In 2006, pollster SurveyUSA reported Nelson was the highest-rated Senator in America, based on his 73% approval rating at the time.

Nelson's current term in the Senate ends in 2012. But he and his allies have already begun a campaign to raise his flagging approval ratings in the wake of the health care debate. The Nebraska Democratic party has spent $350,000 on ads supporting Nelson, the Omaha paper reports, and Nelson "has been aggressively arguing his case on radio shows and in meetings with newspaper editorial boards."