Note to politicos: Start musing aloud about legitimate rape and watch your poll numbers sink.

That seems to be the case in Missouri, where incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has opened up a 10 point lead over her challenger, Congressman Todd Akin in the latest Rasmussen poll. Mr. Akin, of course, burst onto the political scene earlier this week when, during an otherwise routine local TV interview, he stated his objection to abortion even in cases of rape.

“It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Mr. Akin said about the chances of getting pregnant due to rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.” Read More

The Obama campaign is out this morning with a memo from lead pollster Joel Benenson that finds–unsurprisingly, perhaps, considering the source–that the choice of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate has been a dud.

The memo, titled “The Announcement without a Bounce: Romney’s Choice of Ryan Falls Flat” lays out the data.

Among the salient findings are that typically a veep choice gives a candidate a 4.7 percent bounce, but that according to Gallup, the choice of Mr. Ryan gained Mr. Romney only 1 percentage point. Mr. Benenson, who is based in New York, also said that veep choices count little among how voters actually vote, but that they do say something about a candidate’s decision-making ability.  Read More

The latest survey from Quinnipiac Polling Institute shows Council Speaker Christine Quinn with a huge lead over her Democratic rivals for mayor.

With the election possibly as soon as ten months away–legislators in Albany have yet to finalize a date–Ms. Quinn garners 29 percent of Democrats. Former comptroller Bill Thompson trails with ten percent of the vote, followed by public advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, who each have nine percent of the vote.

But there is hope for the also-rans: 34 percent of voters say they are undecided.  Read More

This can be taken with as many grains of salt as one wishes, but a poll released today by Democratic House Majority PAC shows that Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney is within striking distance of upsetting Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth.

The poll gives Ms.  Hayworth a 48-45 edge, and in a release the PAC notes that puts the freshman congresswoman below “the 50 percent threshold for a well-positioned incumbent.”

“Nan Hayworth doesn’t represent the interests of the Hudson Valley,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC. “Whether it’s her support for ending Medicare as we know it and allowing insurance companies to charge women more for coverage just because they’re women or the political games she played holding up critical disaster relief funding after Tropical Storm Irene, Hayworth’s extreme agenda is wrong for New York.” Read More