Sen. Michael Bennet could take some good news from a new Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee poll, while Ken Buck might prefer to watch himself pull away in the new Rasmussen survey.
Democrat Bennet led Republican Buck in the DSCC survey of 800 likely voters, 48 percent to 46 percent. Obviously within any margin of error, so consider it another tie. The DSCC-sponsored numbers also claimed to show Bennet doing much better than Buck on questions asking voters to rank their warm-fuzzy feelings about the candidates. Buck scored higher in the “cool” category, according to the committee.
The Rasmussen poll, which Democrats frequently dispute because of alleged sampling bias, shows Buck over 50 percent support for the first time and a growing lead. Their numbers put Buck at 51 percent and Bennet at 43 percent. For some history on Rasmussen and criticism of its methods, try the Wikipedia entry here. It may go without saying, but before you hit the comments button, realize that we do understand anything from the Democratic Senatorial committee may come with its own set of biases.
An interesting Politico story, meanwhile, quotes pollsters from all ranges of the spectrum questioning the value of poll information this election cycle. Some claim it’s very hard to predict who is a “likely” voter this time around, while others are saying that many polls are under-counting youth or Latino votes, and failing to include third-party candidates that could shave off a few percentage points from the leaders in a year of disgruntled party loyalists.
