Republicans Close The Gap In West Virginia, Connecticut
Two races that seemed like they’d be blowouts only a few months ago are looking very competitive as we head into the final month of the 2010 Campaign.
First, in Connecticut where Attorney General Richard Blumenthal once had a 25 point lead, polls from Quinnipiac and Rasmussen both show Republican Linda McMahon has closed the gap to no more than a five point Blumenthal lead.
Similarly, in West Virginia, where Governor Joe Manchin once held what seemed like an insurmountable lead, now Rasmussen shows Republican John Raese with a slight lead, albeit within the margin of error.
There are a month’s worth of debates scheduled in both states that are likely to go a long way toward deciding how the race pans out. However, as Nate Silver notes, these races have created a new scenario under which the GOP could take control of the Senate.
These races, which many had written off weeks ago, now deserve to be watched closely.
On an unrelated polling situation – I would call your attention to the fact that the Rasmussen daily tracking of presidential approval has Obama today at 50% approval. The first time he has hit that number, and the first net positive approval since April. I imagine that deserves some pretty big headlines, no?
Can you just feel that Obamamentum surging?
🙂
“I imagine that deserves some pretty big headlines, no?”
Doug only does Obama and Democrats doomed headlines.
“These races, which many had written off weeks ago, now deserve to be watched closely.”
Yeah right, go out and sell all thou hast and put in on Linda McMahon. This is politics in CT not pro wrestling where she gets to decide the winner!
Yeah, but…but…but…Gallop still has him in the 44% range and CNN pegged him at 42% – And I thought those were better barometers for youfar left Libs than Rasmussen. It wasn’t that long ago that Rasmussen was considered on par with the devil on Libs blogs. Now libs are citing Ras as a benchmark. Too funny. Btw, The poster remarking that OTB only “only does Obama and Democrats doomed headlines” must not have seen all the post that paint most of the new Rep Senate candidates – Angle, O’Donnell, Buck, Paul, etc – as all whack jobs. Indeed, this is the first day I’ve been to this blog without seeing a demeaning and condescending post about Christine O’Donnell and Sharon Angle.
Smooth Jazz says:
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 15:07
“Now libs are citing Ras as a benchmark. Too funny.”
The point is these very imperfect polls are all over the board but most of them have him still in the forties and with their respective MOE’s it quite conceivable (indeed likely) he’s still in the mid to high forties which is not a particularly bad place to be given the continued weakness of the economy. As for Angle and O’Donnell a goodly amount of the condescension has come from Republicans so this has to tell you something. But I doubt it will.
Stay tuned for another big headline coming tomorrow. The new NBC?WSJ poll apparently will be showing that in the generic Congressional ballot, the two parties are tied amongst registered voters, and the Reps only up by 3 with the likely voter screen. The topline explanation – a closing of the enthusiasm gap.