While the new Orion Strategies/Marshall University poll gives Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin a 10-point lead over Republican John Raese, 48 percent to 38 percent, it also shows that 62 percent of likely voters think that Manchin’s policy positions are “somewhat similar” or “very much the same” as President Obama’s.

Obama is widely unpopular in the state, with approval ratings at 29 percent. That may be partially due to West Virgina’s dislike of his health-care plan: 67 percent of voters are “very much” or “somewhat” worried about the bill, according to the new poll. Raese has tried to capitalize on that, emphasizing that he supports full repeal of the bill, and accusing Manchin of being ‘a rubber stamp for Obama.’ Manchin has struck back by recently saying he supports partial repeal of the health-care bill.

Voters also expressed concern about the economy, with 62 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreeing with the statement that the economy is improving. The same percentage is worried about job security.

High support for the tea-party movement continues, with 46 percent saying the movement “very much” or “somewhat” represents their views, compared to about 20 percent support nationwide. Forty-five percent felt the tea-party movement did not represent their views.

The poll, conducted October 11 and 12, coincided with former president Bill Clinton’s visit to Morgantown, where he campaigned on behalf of Manchin. The poll also showed unusually high approval ratings for Manchin’s job as governor: 75 percent, in contrast to the usual two-thirds approval rating he has received in recent polls.

“No poll conducted by a Democratic Congressional candidate’s campaign manager is to be taken seriously,” Raese campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin told Battle ’10, referring to the fact that Orion Strategies owner Curtis Wilkerson is the campaign manager for Democratic congressional candidate Mike Oliverio.

“There will be a number of different types of polls between now and Election Day, it’s what happens on November 2nd that counts,” Manchin campaign spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg told Battle ’10. “However, I do believe that over the past 2 weeks the differences between the candidates on the ballot could not have been made more clear and that as West Virginians are focusing in on this election they are recognizing that Joe Manchin will always stand up and fight for what’s right for West Virginia. He has also brought the type of changes to West Virginia over the past 6 years that people want to see happen in Washington, so he’s the candidate that can get things done. I also believe that as people learn more about John Raese, the more they see how truly out of touch he is with the people of West Virginia.”

Corley Dennison, dean of Marshall University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, told Battle ’10 that he wanted “to emphasize that Orion Strategies only served as a liaison to arrange for the phone calls to be made. Marshall University’s Political Science Department vetted the information and the poll was conducted as an educational exercise to enlighten students on political polling processes.”

“A week ago we had no idea which way these poll numbers would fall and we did our best to carry out an objective poll,” he added.

The Raese campaign’s internal polls show that the race is very close, while the RealClearPolitics poll average gives Manchin a 2.5-point lead.