Hackett's Day

Yesterday, Chris Hackett received some statistical support and some closure from his rough primary fight with Dan Meuser.

The first poll out of the 10th District shows a statistical dead heat between Chris Carney and Hackett.

The poll from Survey USA conducted for Roll Call magazine sampled 623 likely voters and found that Carney (49%) lead Hackett (45%) by only 4%--within the margin of error (4%).

Breaking down the results further:

CARNEY
Favorable -- 40%
Unfavorable -- 23%
Neutral --30%
No Opinion -- 7%

HACKETT
Favorable -- 36%
Unfavorable -- 23%
Neutral -- 31%
No Opinion -- 10%

Also from the survey, the most important issue to voters in the district was the economy (40%) with gasoline coming in a distant second (14%).

The survey did analyze the gasoline issue further. Most believe the oil companies are to blame (40%) followed by Congress (13%) and foreign governments (11%). Furthermore, the sampled voters stated alternative sources of energy (54%) provide the best answer to solve the problem with offshore drilling receiving 36% .

Obviously, this is a big liability for Chris Hackett. Carney has been trying very hard to tie Hackett to the big oil companies. Either through Hackett's personal investments in the sector or his energy policies which are perceived to benefit the bottom line of oil companies, the Carney camp has been pushing the issue into the laps of voters.

On the other hand, the fact that voters blame Congress more than the President could be a sign that voters are impressionable to the idea that some blame can be laid at the feet of Carney.

Overall, the Hackett camp interpreted the poll to mean that they were neutralizing Carney's incumbency advantage and closing in.

Said campaign manger Mark Harris, "We’re very pleased. After more than a month of TV ads trying to promote his paper-thin record in Congress, Chris Carney is still being rejected by voters. We fully expect Carney and his liberal Washington allies to ramp up their negative message now."

One other noticeable problem for Hackett is the fact that he only received a 52% favorable rating from Republicans in the district. Most of this, I would hypothesize, still stems from the Meuser-Hackett primary feud.

However, Dan Meuser did voice his support for Hackett yesterday by offering a formal endorsement. Meuser said, "I will always support good Republicans for office. In a choice between Chris Carney and a conservative Republican, I will always choose the conservative Republican."

It will be interesting to see whether Meuser actively campaigns for Hackett in the coming months. Encouraging his supporters to get involved for Hackett would be a good first step in demonstrating the unity between the two and driving up Hackett's favorability among Republicans.