Merkley Pulling Away?

Merkley Pulling Away?
Charles Pope, The Oregonian
10/31/08

WASHINGTON -- Polls are fickle things and they usually come with the usual caveat of being nothing more than a ``snap shot'' in time.

Which makes the predictions from Public Policy Polling's latest look at the Oregon Senate race all the more notable.

"At this point Jeff Merkley seems almost certain to be a winner, and Obama's popularity is having a similar effect in Minnesota and North Carolina,'' PPP said Friday. The outfit's latest poll has Democrat Jeff Merkley leading incumbent Republican Gordon Smith by eight points, 51 percent to 43 percent.

The details can be found here.

Public Policy's pollsters conclude that much of Merkley's burst can be attributed to Barack Obama's popularity.

``Barack Obama has a commanding lead for President in Oregon, and it looks like he'll be bringing Jeff Merkley along with him,'' the pollster's concluded.

``Obama leads John McCain 57-42 in Oregon. He's racked up a 64-35 lead with those who have already filled out their ballots and is winning across every demographic subset of the population that PPP tracks,'' the outfit's news release said.

The poll of 1,424 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 28-30. It dovetailed with several other recent polls that gave Merkley a lead ranging from five to seven point. One other poll, however, had the race tied and still another poll of 400 registered votes gave Smith a four point lead.

Those two were the outliers, however, among polls that have consistently found Merkley leading.

Posted October 31, 2008
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