I did not see this diarized today, which kind of surprised me. But, a new Quinnipiac poll out today has Richard Blumenthal virtually unharmed by the pseudo-scandal about his Vietnam misstatement. The poll has him up 56-31. Even 41% of Republics view him favorably.
http://blogs.courant.com/...
While his lead is down from 33 points in March, Linda McMahon has literally blanketed the airwaves with $16 million of advertisements in that time, while Blumenthal has had none that I have seen or heard. So, $16 million to gain 8% in the polls, with a convention bounce in there, to boot. The Q-Poll, which is based in Connecticut, flatly refutes the Rasmussen poll from last week that had it down to a three point lead for Blumenthal.
I think Blumenthal still has to stay sharp to avoid a Martha Coakley situation, but it is still his race to lose. It does not seem McMahon will be able to buy the seat like Republics hoped.
More after the flip.
I do not think Linda McMahon will be able to appeal to the teabagger crowd in Connecticut like Scott Brown did in Massachusetts. Her pro-choice views are a public record, and the fact that she has donated to Democrats in the past will virtually kill teabagger enthusiasm. Scott Brown, if I recall, was more of a blank slate.
A bit from the Q-Poll:
"It looks like Connecticut voters forgive Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, or feel that there is nothing to forgive in the Vietnam service flap,'' Q Poll director Doug Schwartz said in press release accompanying the poll's release. "While he has taken a hit with voters, his poll numbers were so high to begin with that he still maintains a commanding lead over Linda McMahon.''
And there's more good news for Blumenthal. He wins every "character" question the poll asked. He's seen as having strong leadership qualities, being honest and having the necessary experience to be a U.S. Senator, topping McMahon's ratings in each of those categories.
Plus, the always entertaining Colin McEnroe from his To Wit blog does a nice job of contrasting the –Poll with all the national pundits who declared Blumenthal’s candidacy DOA.
Yesterday, Mr. Dankosky, speaking on "Talk of the Nation," put into words something I too have been thinking (but less coherently). There's a disconnect, he said, between how the Beltway sees this story and how people see it in Connecticut. In Washington, Blumenthal is all but finished. Andrea Mitchell went as far as to say he will be forced out of the race. "You heard it here first," she said. That's for sure. But she's not the only one. The national press has been shopping, since last Tuesday, the idea that Blumenthal is hopelessly damaged goods and cannot possibly be elected.
Today, we got a sense of how completely barren this line of reasoning is. The Q Poll is out. Blumenthal leads McMahon by 25 points. His approvals and favorables are high. Hers aren't. The inevitable barrage of commercials may change things but, just now, the Vietnam story doesn't seem to matter much.
http://blogs.courant.com/...