Posted on 09/17/2010 8:04:51 AM PDT by Fitzy_888
Rep. Scott Murphy holds a 17-point lead over his Republican challenger Chris Gibson, a poll released today by the Siena Research Institute shows, and voters agree with major planks of the platform he and his fellow Democrats are carrying to the November elections.
But Gibson, a retired Army colonel from Kinderhook, was able to gain the support of 37 percent of voters, and may have an opening if he can paint Murphy as just another incumbent tied to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.
“This campaign has a long way to go,” said poll spokesman Steve Greenberg. “The vast majority of voters have seen or heard Murphy commercials. That is not yet true for Gibson, although it is likely to change as the campaign heats up. As voters learn more about Gibson, will their views about who would better serve them in Congress change? Will they change enough to close the gap or put Gibson in front? It’s going to be fun to watch.”
Indeed, the poll found Gibson is considerably less well-known: 65 percent of voters surveyed don’t know enough about him to have a favorable or unfavorable impression, including 59 percent of Republicans surveyed. Murphy, however, rates only 17 percent unknown, less among Democrats and only 10 percent in the district’s most populous counties of Rensselaer and Saratoga. Gibson has been airing advertisements for less time than Murphy, and fewer voters have seen them, the poll found. The two candidate have clashed over their positions on health care reform legislation, what to do about the Bush-era tax cuts and economic stimulus packages. The poll found voters favor implementing the health care legislation — which Murphy voted for — by a 50-44 percent margin; favored Murphy’s position (proposed by Barack Obama) of eliminating tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 in place, which the poll showed favored by a 52-44 and that voters supported a proposal for $50 billion of infrastructure spending, which Murphy has backed, by a 57-39 margin.
The poll registered 603 likely voters and has a four percent margin of error.
These results indicate that in a pure issue clash, Murphy has a very slight advantage, but certainly not a comfortable one. As such, both Murphy and Gibson have sought to tie each other to larger figures in the district, hoping a larger albatross will drag the other down.
(...)
More than half way through the article:
"These results indicate that in a pure issue clash, Murphy has a very slight advantage, but certainly not a comfortable one."
Note this newspaper is a shill for Murphy.
=> All Chris Gibson needs to win is exposure.
This is such a winnable seat. It’s unconscionable that the Republicans have just given up on it.
THEY are the reason that it went to Murphy in the first place, not because the district went liberal.
I’d love to know what the polling dynamics were for this one.
The poll found voters favor implementing the health care legislation — which Murphy voted for — by a 50-44 percent margin
Me too, because I don't buy that for a second.
“The poll found voters favor implementing the health care legislation...”
What does it mean exactly? Voters that wanted “something”?
Was this a seat we were counting on as a flip? If so, we’re screwed.
This is supposedly a heavy Republican district. Yet it supports Obamacare, tax increases, and more spending.
Either this is a bogus poll. Or this district is filled wuth RINO Republicans.
Got me. It could just as easily refer to people who think that we need legislation to overturn the already passed legislation. If that was the wording, it’s confusing as hell.
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