Deval Patrick Rises in MA

By W. James Antle, III on 5.17.10 @ 10:40AM

Last week, Rasmussen released a poll showing a sizeable gain for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the troubled Democratic incumbent. Patrick is at 45 percent, Republican Charlie Baker takes 31 percent, and independent Tim Cahill sinks to 14 percent. The last Rasmussen poll showed Patrick at 35 percent with Baker and Cahill bunched together at 27 percent and 23 percent, respectively. A Western New England College taken after the Republican State Convention showed Cahill ahead of Baker.

Patrick got some good publicity with his handling of the spring flooding problems in Massachusetts. It's also the case that much of the governor's race thus far has consisted of Baker and Cahill sniping at each other, as they are fighting for the same political oxygen. In particular, the Republican Governors Association spent $1 million going after Cahill on behalf of Baker -- to the consternation of eight Republican National Committee members who view Baker as too liberal and have signed a letter asking that no RNC resources be spent on his behalf.

Things can obviously change, since it's only May and the race has already proved remarkably fluid. But this poll does provide a data point for those worried that the Baker-Cahill split will allow Patrick to defy the odds and win re-election.

More:
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/05/17/deval-patrick-rises-in-ma



http://devalpatrick.com/