A new Public Policy Polling poll puts Democratic senate candidate Gov. Joe Manchin back in the lead at 48 percent to Republican John Raese’s 45 percent. While the latest couple of polls had shown Raese leading by about five points, the PPP poll was conducted after the “hicky” ad debacle, which occurred after it was discovered that a talent agency hired by the NRSC had used Philadelphia actors to play West Virginians in a NRSC commercial and advised them to wear “hicky” clothes.
In a statement to Battle ’10, Raese campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said, “The poll confirms what we’ve known for some time, this race is a statistical dead-heat and West Virginians are not at all happy about the direction President Obama has taken us. With three weeks to go, we certainly wouldn’t want to switch places with our opponent.”
The Manchin campaign sees a shift in voter perception. “There will be a number of different polls between now and November 2nd, and as we all know the only one that really counts is on Election Day. However, I do believe that in the past week, the differences between the two candidates on the ballot could not have been more clear,” said Manchin press secretary Lara Ramsburg in a statement to Battle ’10. “Joe Manchin will always stand up and fight for what is best for West Virginia, and John Raese will always just do what’s best for John Raese, and as the people of West Virginia focus in on this election, they are becoming more and more aware of that fact.”
Meanwhile, Manchin continues to tout his right-leaning tendencies, speaking out against the card-check legislation advocated by union groups. He recently announced that he’s for partial repeal of Obamacare, sued the EPA over environmental regulations, and has begun running an ad in which he shoots the cap-and-trade bill.