The American Spectator’s Larry Thornberry smells blood in the water. In a new blog post today he points out that recent polls are showing Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson to be in an extremely weak position heading into the 2012 election:

A poll of Florida voters done in late June by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows Nelson approved by only 38 percent of those surveyed, while 31 percent disapprove, and an astounding 31 percent say they just aren’t sure about Nelson.

That almost a third of Floridians have no opinion of Nelson is a measure of how charisma-challenged Florida’s senior senator is and how achievement-free his long political career has been. Before Nelson won a senate seat by defeating a similarly charisma-challenged Republican, former congressman Bill McCollum, in 2000, Nelson had served in the U.S. House and had been Florida’s insurance commissioner. He’s been in public life in Florida since John Paul Jones was a lieutenant commander. And still a third of Floridians have no opinion of him. This is one vulnerable office holder.

With Republicans looking to further their gains made in the Senate in 2010, Nelson’s weakness could give them a significant boost in securing both of Florida’s Senate seats in back-to-back election cycles.