Oh yeah, I jumped on the notion that there might be a fair number of Obama supporters backing Dino Rossi for governor. We had evidence. One SurveyUSA poll showed Obama with a 16-point lead in Washington, but another one had Gregoire only up by a point. We had a local example of an Obama-Rossi voter. Couldn’t find a McCain-Gregoire puncher.
Now, the (Tacoma) News Tribune posts info from another poll showing Gregoire with a huge lead. While other polls might have Gregoire leading by a little, Elways puts her 12 points up. Writes Jason Hagey:
Voters were asked who they intended to vote for, unlike in previous polls where they were asked whether they were inclined to “definitely” or “probably” vote for each candidate.
Gregoire kept all of her “probables” from September and added 1 percent from the undecided column, according to The Elway Poll. Rossi lost 3 percent overall.
Jerry Cornfield at the (Everett) Herald got a response from Rossi spokeswoman Jill Strait:
If Elway had us down 16% before the primary and we ended up within two points, than an Elway poll showing us down 12% must mean we’re headed toward victory on Election night.
Real Clear Politics has a history of the governor surveys going back to October of last year.
When I looked at the SurveyUSA data, I was hoping to find any commentary on how Obama and McCain voters were leaning on the governor’s race, but those appear to be two different surveys. Elway goes into it, showing a negligible difference between crossovers from either party.
I’ve heard it said more than once that Elway couldn’t poll himself accurately, so a double digit lead for Gregoire is laughable – especially considering the primary results, and the fact it looks like Rossi has the positive momentum as election day approaches.
Don’t you realize that Elway works for the Democrats?