Dems delight in Senate poll

BY MICHAEL RILEY

Democrats in Washington released excerpts of an internal poll they say confirms earlier indications that the once even Senate race in Colorado has shifted in Mark Udall’s favor, with the Boulder County Democrat now leading Republican Bob Schaffer by nine points.  

In the early months of the campaign, polls showed the race roughly even, but after several trip-ups Schaffer has steadily lost ground over the last two months.

Excerpts of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee poll of 807 likely Colorado voters conducted June 15-17 showed the same Udall lead as a non-partisan Rasmussen Reports survey released earlier this week but with a slightly smaller margin of error (3.5 percent).  It was conducted by the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group and paid for by the DSCC. Some of the most telling responses in the Democratic poll suggest that Bush fatigue may play strongly in the Senate race, reflecting the same disenchantment with Republican leadership that is blowing against the party nationally.  When asked whether they thought the country was headed in the right direction, a hefty 72 percent of respondents said ‘no.’ Given the choice between voting for a generic Democrat and a generic Republican for U.S. Senate, respondents chose a Democrat by 42 percent to 36 percent, despite Republicans’ significant advantage in voter registration in the state. 

Schaffer hasn’t helped with early blunders, including a biographical TV spot met to emphasize his connection to Colorado, but which mixed up Pikes Peak with Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. He’s also been dogged by questions over a trip he took while in Congress to the Mariana Islands that was partly arranged by jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Schaffer's campaign did not comment on the poll.   

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