Today’s Fox News poll shows Republican senate candidate John Raese two points ahead of Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin, 48 percent to 46 percent.
The poll also shows the huge amount of anti-Obama sentiment that’s driving the race. Only 29 percent of likely voters approve of the president, while 58 percent want their senate vote to show opposition to the Obama administration’s policies. Fifty-nine percent think Obama’s policies have hurt West Virginia’s economy, while 64 percent think his policies will hurt the country in the long run.
And worrisome for Manchin, who has sought to distance himself from Obama and Washington Democrats, is the fact that 54 percent of voters think he agrees with Obama on issues too often. Manchin’s popularity as governor may also be helping Raese: 27 percent of Raese voters said they support Raese partially or entirely because they would like Manchin to remain governor.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.