Martin almost even with Chambliss in new U.S. Senate poll

Democratic candidate Jim Martin is almost even with incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in a new poll due out today.

Results of the latest Strategic Vision survey show Chambliss had 47 percent and Martin had 44 percent, with Libertarian Allen Buckley at 4 percent.

The margin of error for the poll was 3 percent.

The survey represents a decline of 15 percentage points for Chambliss relative to Martin since a Strategic Vision survey released Sept. 12.

The sampling of 800 likely voters also tracks with other recent polls that show a tightening race.

The poll was conducted Sunday, Monday and Tuesday - after Chambliss voted for an unpopular $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill.

"It's all about the economy," said Strategic Vision CEO David Johnson, reflecting a widespread view that the Wall Street meltdown mostly helps Democrats.

Johnson also said his poll registered a precipitous drop - from 43 percent to 15 percent - in numbers of people who think the country is headed in the right direction.

Job approval ratings for Chambliss and two fellow Republicans - Gov. Sonny Perdue and President Bush - all declined, he said.

And in the same poll, GOP presidential candidate John McCain led Democrat Barack Obama, 50 percent to 43 percent. McCain led by 13 percentage points in the Sept. 12 poll.

"There's no doubt that momentum is on our side," said Kate Hansen, a Martin spokeswoman. "Middle-class Georgians have been hit hard by the economic crisis, and they understand the stakes.

"For years, Saxby Chambliss has voted down the line with George Bush's failed economic policies, and it's clear that Georgians are starting to look to Jim Martin."

Michelle Hitt Grasso, a spokeswoman for Chambliss, did not respond directly to a request for comment. Instead, Grasso cited another survey - released Wednesday - that shows Chambliss up by 6 percentage points, about the same as last month.

The Rasmussen Reports survey had Chambliss leading 50 percent to 44 percent, or by 1 percentage less than in a similar sounding last month.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock agreed that the economy is a key factor in the apparent shift toward Democrats.

Bullock also said Democrats likely will benefit from a major voter registration drive conducted by the Obama campaign.

Obama spokeswoman Caroline Adelman said last week that the campaign registered 170,000 new voters in September.

But Bullock said it's not too late for Chambliss to pull away from Martin.

Chambliss apparently has yet to use much of the $4 million in campaign donations he reported having salted away as of June 30, the professor said.

"And as the number of days since the bailout vote increases," he added, "voters might begin thinking it was the right thing to do, and then the issue might fade away."