The new Quinnipiac poll of the Connecticut Senate race shows Republican former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon continuing to close the gap against Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, with the Dem’s lead down to only three points.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Bringing The Smackdown: Linda McMahon’s Campaign For Senate, And Her Colorful Pro-Wrestling Past]
The numbers: Blumenthal 49%, McMahon 46%. The survey of likely voters has a ±3% margin of error. In the previous Quinnipiac poll from two weeks ago, Blumenthal led by 51%-45%.
The TPM Poll Average gives Blumenthal a lead of 49.7%-44.6%.
The pollster’s analysis does show a possible pitfall for McMahon, that the same self-financed advertising that has helped her gain in the race could be starting to over-saturate the market. At the same time, though, Blumenthal’s base is a bit restless that he hasn’t been as active.
Of the 87 percent who have seen Blumenthal TV ads, 54 percent find them informative and 42 percent find them annoying. Blumenthal’s advertising has been about right, 49 percent say, while 33 percent say he hasn’t advertised enough and 11 percent call it excessive.
“Linda McMahon has spent about $22 million on her campaign, but is it overkill? A majority of voters say that it has been excessive. In contrast, many Democrats feel that Blumenthal hasn’t been doing enough on the advertising front,” Schwartz said.
“As McMahon has flooded the airwaves, many voters are saying, ‘Enough already!’”
In response to this poll, the Blumenthal campaign released an internal survey from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D), claiming a 52%-40% lead for Blumenthal. Campaign manager Mindy Myers said in a statement: “We knew from the beginning that the race would tighten and be a tough, close election. Linda McMahon’s spending $50 million to whitewash her record and tear down Dick Blumenthal. But the people of Connecticut know Linda McMahon puts profits ahead of people and Dick Blumenthal stands up to the special interests and puts people first. That difference will make the difference on Election day.”
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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