MS Sen - Rasmussen: Wicker expands lead

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I was wondering whether I should wait for Harry to post this... 

I've never posted a poll...


Anyway, until there are more polls to back this one up, I'm going to say it's an outlier.  All the rest of the polls have been close.

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After surveying the blogs, I learned that this poll included party labels when identifying the candidates.  Throw it out.

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Every black who votes knows Musgrove is a Democrat.  They appreciate how he had the courage to try to change the albatross we shamefully call a state flag.  They're not going to vote Wicker anyway.

Of course, every white also knows Musgrove is a Democrat.  But around 5% of the white electorate normally votes straight Republican in "national" races but would be open to voting for certain Democrats, and the lack of party labels will allow them to justify voting for Musgrove to themselves?  Silly--yes.  Enough to put Musgrove over the hump--maybe.

Just as Musgrove needs to avoid tying himself to Obama too much, Wicker needs to avoid McCain.  Few Mississippians are happy with their party's candidates this year.

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Musgrove's name ID is 100%? I don't think so. What about all the new voters Obama's campaign has been registering. Many are in the 18-24 age group. These voters may not have formed a view of Musgrove, who has been out of office for five years.

That's a rather astute analogy. Musgrove, like Ford, has personal baggage. Musgrove, like Corker, must introduce himself to the over 2/3 of the state's electorate. Unlike Corker, Wicker will not have an (R) at the end of his name.

Well no obviously it's not 100%, but the vast majority of voters have heard of Musgrove and remember him being governor.  Also, Wicker is the one who has to introduce himself to the state, not Musgrove.  Musgrove simply has to not let Wicker's attacks bog him down (I already hear attack ads on the radio often).

Also, the lack of an (R) next to Wicker's name is going to hurt him, not help him, barring Obama winning the election with 60%+ of the PV, and enough EV's to win Mississippi by several % points.