Grassley leading Conlin comfortably in latest poll

Sen. Chuck Grassley has a comfortable 20 percentage point lead over his Democratic challenger, Roxanne Conlin, in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll released today.

Grassley, a Butler county farmer and five-term senator, is leading Conlin 55 percent to 35 percent, according to Rasmussen. Five percent favor some other candidate, and 6 percent are undecided, according to the poll conducted Aug. 5.

Grassley has widened his lead over Conlin, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice in Des Moines. A June poll showed him leading 54 percent to 37 percent.

Both campaigns found something to like in the results.

“Sen. Grassley has held office longer than Fidel Castro so it's no surprise he enjoys high name recognition,” said Mark Daley, Conlin campaign manager, “but this poll shows exactly what we are seeing across the state - Roxanne narrowing the lead and gaining steam with more than 2 months to go.”

The poll “reflects previous credible polls” and is “another indication that Iowans value Chuck Grassley's work to control government spending and provide a check and balance against Washington liberals who want to expand government's reach into every aspect of the private sector and individuals' lives,” Grassley spokesman Eric Woolson said.

Since February, Grassley has polled 53 percent to 55 percent support in matchups with Conlin. She has captured 36 percent to 40 percent in that same period.

First elected in 1980, Grassley captured 70 percent of the vote in his 2004 re-election. Rasmussen calls the Iowa Senate race “Solid Republican” and most election handicappers have Grassley in their “Safe” category.

According to the survey of 500 Likely Voters, Iowans see significant ideological differences between Grassley and Conlin, who handily won a three-way primary for the nomination. Rasmussen found that 81 percent regard Grassley as a conservative and 50 percent call Conlin a liberal. Another 24 percent identify her as a moderate.

Most of the state's voters, 56 percent, see Grassley's views as mainstream, but 29 percent think they are extreme. However, only 34 percent say Conlin's views are in the mainstream, while 42 percent feel they are extreme.

“They know he's one of us and in touch with where Iowans are coming from,” Woolson said.

Grassley earns 90 percent support from GOP voters and Colin gets 77 percent of the vote from Democrats. Grassley has an advantage with voters not affiliated with either major party favor. They favor the Republican by a two-to-one margin.

Twenty-six percent of Iowa voters have a Very Favorable opinion of Grassley, while 12 percent view him Very Unfavorably. Conlin is viewed

Although both candidates are well-known, at this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Rasmussen found support for Barack Obama, who carried Iowa over John McCain by a 54 percent to 45 percent margin in November 2008, has slipped. Just 48 percent of the state's voters now approve of the job Obama is doing as president. Fifty-two percent disapprove. That's little changed from June and comparable to voter sentiments nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.