A new Rasmussen poll of Arizona has yet more bad news for former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary. On the slim chance that Hayworth were to win the August 24 primary, he would in fact be the weaker GOP nominee — and even trail the Democrat, former Tucson Councilman Rodney Glassman.
McCain leads Glassman in the general election by 53%-34%, while Glassman actually edges out Hayworth by 43%-38%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.5% margin of error. The TPM Poll Averages for the general election matches have McCain leading Glassman by 52.3%-29.3%, and Glassman leading Hayworth by 42.2%-37.4%.
In the previous poll from mid-May, McCain led Glassman by 57%-28%, and Hayworth led Glassman by 49%-33%. Since then, of course, Hayworth has been dragged through the mud by such stories as his involvement in a 2007 infomercial promoting company’s shady (and expensive) seminars on receiving “free money” from the federal government. It’s not the kind of thing that would endear a candidate to swing voters.
Of course, it should be noted that the TPM Poll Average for the Republican primary puts McCain ahead of Hayworth by 53.6% 32.1%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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