A new poll released yesterday by Southern Media & Opinion Research indicates that Democrat Charlie Melancon is making little headway in his attempts to unseat Sen. David Vitter.

The poll, which asked a myriad of questions to 600 statewide voters April 19-23, was paid for by Baton Rouge businessman and conservative activist Lane Grigsby.

Vitter leads Melancon by 49 percent to 31.4 percent in a head-to-head matchup, which indicates a surge for the Senator since Southern Media & Opinion Research last polled the race back in October. In that poll six months ago, Vitter led Melancon 48-36; Vitter has gained a point and Melancon has lost five since his campaign of scummy personal assaults in lieu of substantive policy discussions directed by James Carville began to unfold.

Not only hasn’t Melancon’s campaign gained him any traction, it hasn’t knocked Vitter’s approval rating down. The Senator is sitting at 55.1 percent approval, with only 36.2 percent disapproval. In fact, Vitter’s disapproval rating is actually a little lower than Gov. Bobby Jindal, who the poll found was at 61-37 on the favorable side (a seven point drop from six months ago). Sen. Mary Landrieu is in a little worse situation; her approval rating is just 42.8 percent, with 53.5 percent disapproval.

Southern Media also polled the Lt. Governor’s race and found some interesting numbers. It included state treasurer John Kennedy and Democrat usual suspect Foster Campbell with announced candidates Jay Dardenne (Louisiana Secretary of State), Kevin Davis (St. Tammany Parish President) and Roger Villere (Louisiana GOP chairman), and found that should Kennedy enter the race he would become the leader. Kennedy polls at 21.2 percent, with Dardenne checking in at 15.4 percent. Campbell is next; as the only Democrat in the race he sits at 14.5 percent, while Davis (6 percent) and Villere (2.4 percent) don’t appear to be major factors in the race.