Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty continues to trail DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll of the gubernatorial contest shows the governor trailing 42% to 47%.

Incumbents are regarded as vulnerable if they don't reach at least a 50% level of support; worse, obviously, is to consistently trail the challenger, as Governor Pawlenty has been doing for most of the year.

Though the primary won't be decided until September 12, in June Hatch secured the endorsement of the DFL, and all but one of the other contenders for the DFL nomination has dropped out of the race. (The DFL, or Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, is Minnesota's equivalent of the Democratic Party.)

Governor Pawlenty is viewed favorably by 57% of likely voters, unfavorably by 40%. Hatch is viewed favorably by 58%, unfavorably by 33%.

In our polling about presidential hopefuls, a plurality of 47% say they would vote for a Democrat in 2008, 33% for a Republican—at least, when party affiliation is the only datum they know about prospective candidates. The inclinations change somewhat when we asked about possible matches among four politicians considering a run.

We also found that, as holds true in other states, voters tend to look more favorably on Republicans than Democrats in the small group of prominent names we asked about. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are both viewed favorably by 60% of likely voters, unfavorably by about a third. Hillary Clinton is viewed favorably by 45%, unfavorably by 44%. Al Gore is viewed favorably by 50%, unfavorably by 47%.

As is also true in other states, the two Democrats are viewed "very" unfavorably by many more respondents than view them "somewhat" unfavorably. Dislike of the two Republicans is less vehement.

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