The latest Rasmussen Reports poll continues the bad run of polling news for Senator Blanche Lincoln. The latest poll, taken of 500 likely voters on August 18, 2010, shows Congressman John Boozman (brother of the man Lincoln defeated in 1998) leading Lincoln 65-27. Boozman leads 59-31 in the RCP Average.

To put this in perspective, Rick Santorum trailed Bob Casey, Jr., by a 49-40 margin at this point in the 2006 election cycle. He picked up a point by November, when he lost 59-41.

If Lincoln does little to improve her standing in the polls, she will be in the running for the worst showing of any true Senate incumbent in history (a "true" incumbent is a non-appointee who has served a full term). Only 13 true incumbents have ever been held below 40 percent of the vote, absent a third party effort, and only three have been held below 38 percent.

Those three are:
-William Hathaway of Maine, who lost to Republican William Cohen 56.6 percent to 33.9 percent in 1978
-J. Glenn Beall of Maryland, who lost to Democrat Joseph D. Tydings 62.8 percent to 37.2 percent in 1964 (fun fact: J. Glenn Beall, Jr., is a top 10 loser, losing the same seat to Paul Sarbanes in 1976 by a 56.5 percent to 38.8 percent margin).
-Homer T. Bone of Washington, who lost to Democrat Wesley Jones 60.6 percent to 32.7 percent in 1932.

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