August 26, 2008 07:09 PM UTC

Markey Leads Musgrave by Seven in New Poll

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• by: Colorado Pols

Those of you with better memories than ours may remember better, but if we’re not mistaken this is the furthest behind Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave has ever been heading into an election. As Roll Call reports:

Democrats descended on Denver this week for their nominating convention as a way of signaling their commitment to making the Centennial State – and the Mountain West as a whole – competitive in the presidential race. The poll done for Roll Call seemed to bear that out, as McCain led Obama by just 2 points, 48 percent to 46 percent.

Meanwhile, Musgrave trailed Democratic challenger Betsy Markey 50 percent to 43 percent in the poll conducted by SurveyUSA for Roll Call [Pols emphasis]. Seven percent remained undecided. In an equally troubling sign for Musgrave, 51 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable view of the three-term Congresswoman, while 31 percent viewed her favorably.

The poll of 618 likely voters was taken Aug. 22-24. It had a 4-point margin of error.

The survey found that Markey had a big lead among female voters, 53 percent to 38 percent. The two women were essentially tied among male voters.

More importantly, Markey had a huge lead in two voter groups that will be essential in deciding the election: independents and moderates. She led by 30 points among independent voters, 59 percent to 29 percent, and by 41 points among self-described moderates, 67 percent to 26 percent. Musgrave will have to close the gap in those two groups in order to have a chance at making the race competitive heading into Election Day.