QU poll: Blumenthal maintains lead

Hamden, Conn. (WTNH) - A new  Quinnipiac University poll   is showing that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal still has a comfortable lead in the Senate race, but Republican Linda McMahon is gaining.

The latest poll shows Blumenthal's support still steady at 55 percent -- it was 56 percent in the last poll. McMahon has picked up about 4 points, cutting Blumenthal's lead to 20 points. It's now Blumenthal 55, McMahon 35.

The Blumenthal campaign released this statement:
"Even with her $16 million barrage of advertising, mail and negative attacks, Linda McMahon is the choice of barely one third of voters." 61 percent say Blumenthal's statements about his Vietnam War era service don't make any difference.

"But the poll also contains some good news for Linda McMahon because she is gaining on Richard Blumenthal, she's cut down his lead," said Dough Schwartz of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

But there was some real quirky news for McMahon who still faces a primary election. Former Congressman Rob Simmons actually went up six points since last month, even though he stopped campaigning two weeks ago. There was more bad news for her campaign's marketing strategy of selling McMahon as a political outsider. The poll found that her kind of outsider experience is something Connecticut voters don't seem to care for.

"We found that by a two to one margin, Connecticut voters say they have an unfavorable opinion of professional wrestling and by a two to one margin they say her experience as being the CEO of WWE makes them less likely to vote for her," explained Schwartz.

The McMahon campaign issued this statement:
"We're as confident in our internal numbers today as we were yesterday and the margin in this race is in the 10 to 15 point range. The fact that Dick Blumenthal, a 26 year career politician, is on the verge of dipping below 50 percent, suggests Connecticut voters are ready for something different."

That line comes from the commercials, but only time will tell if Connecticut voters buy into it.

QU pollster Adam Probolsky, the Chairman & CEO, Probolsky Research LLC also released a statement on today's Quinnipiac University Poll:

"Despite McMahon's generous campaign spending, her negative perception among voters may simply be too great to overcome. Therefore, Schiff appears to be the best Republican candidate positioned for victory against Blumenthal."