Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Dueling Polls

Another independent poll, commissioned by Arkansas News Bureau-Stephens Media, has Mike Beebe leading Asa Hutchinson by double digits. Pollster Ernie Oakleaf is again coming under fire because of the methodology of his polls.

Arkansas News
Hutchinson said "credible independent polls" and his internal polling showed the race to be close, with his campaign gaining momentum

Mark Moore
Remember that not only has the Zogby poll consistently showed it to be close, Asa's own poll showed it close, and we know that Bill Halter has spent $34,000 on polling and he is NOT releasing the results and he is campaigning like he is 10 points behind

But I wonder about this comment:
"I think we're seeing what could be a termed a trend," Opinion Research pollster Ernie Oakleaf said. "(Hutchinson) hasn't made any dramatic headway over the last poll."

If that's so, why has Beebe started vigorously attacking Hutchinson on grocery tax elimination, property rights and rural schools?

Baxter Bulletin
The forum came as Beebe's campaign unveiled a new round of television commercials calling a conservative group's ads criticizing his tax and property rights record "wildly misleading."
In the spot, which first aired Friday night, Beebe targets ads by the Coalition for Arkansas' Future, an advocacy group that has been running spots criticizing Beebe. The Beebe ad also tries to tie Hutchinson to the ads.
"Attacks by Asa Hutchinson and his supporters are wildly misleading and increasingly desperate," an announcer says in the ad, "and distorting Mike Beebe's record on the grocery tax."

When your opponent starts attacking it means that they're afraid. I sense fear in the Beebe campaign.

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