What a Difference a Day Makes

In politics, 24 hours is a lifetime when you are in the media spotlight. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal can attest to that personally, thanks to a freshly conducted telephone poll of "likely voters" in the state conducted by Rasmussen. In one day, Republican senatorial candidates are closing in on the Attorney General, who once enjoyed double digit leads over every possible opponent this fall. But the darling of the CT political machine has taken a real credibility hit not only in CT but around the country, following a New York Times report that he exaggerated his military record (or at the very least never corrected the record on it).

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Connecticut finds Blumenthal with a three-point advantage over Republican Linda McMahon - 48 percent to 45 percent. Two weeks ago, he was comfortably ahead by 13 points. Against former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons, Blumenthal leads by 11 points - 50 percent to 39 percent. Two weeks ago, he held a 23-point lead. Blumenthal leads Peter Schiff, a high-profile Wall Street investment banker, 53 percent to 37 percent. In the previous survey, he posted a 54 percent to 29 percent lead over Schiff.

26 percent of voters surveyed say Blumenthal should withdraw from the Senate race. Only nine percent of Democrats believe he should drop out of the race. But by the same token, 53 percent of voters say that Blumenthal's issue of military service will be "somewhat important" in how they vote in November during the general election. That figure includes 27 percent who say the issue is Very Important. 25 percent of voters not affiliated with either political party also consider this issue "Very Important."

Some notes on this poll; 500 Likely Voters in Connecticut were polled by phone on May 18, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. Field work was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See further details on methodology here.