Poll: Lowden being hurt by “Chickengate”

A poll conducted for the liberal blogsite Daily Kos is the first public survey to include a look at "Chickengate." Not surprisingly, the numbers suggest the flap over Sue Lowden's well-mocked proposal for patients to barter with their doctors is not helping her Senate candidacy.

The question, and the numbers:

"As you may know, Sue Lowden has proposed reducing medical costs by having patients barter with their doctor instead of using health insurance. Under Lowden's barter proposal, patients would negotiate directly with doctors, offering services or goods such as painting the doctor's home or giving the doctor a chicken, in exchange for medical treatment."

Does Sue Lowden's proposal make you more or less likely to vote for her?

Lowden's campaign had no immediate comment on the numbers.

The poll conducted by the Research 2000 firm also indicated Sen. Harry Reid may be closing the gap in matchups with Lowden, and fellow Republican contenders Danny Tarkanian and Sharron Angle.

Lowden beats Reid 45 to 41 percent, within a 4 percentage point margin of error. Reid trails Tarkanian by only 43-41 percent, and trails Angle by 44-41 percent.

It's not that Reid suddenly is popular (his unfavorables are still above 50 percent), the blog concluded; it's that the GOP contenders are coming down to earth.

The poll highlights are here.

The poll data is here.

In a development that causes one to wonder about polls in the first place. the results of the Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll vary wildly from an independent poll released Thursday by the Rasmussen polling firm.

Rasmussen has Lowden at 52-39 over Reid, while Tarkanian is up 51-41 over Reid and Angle beating the Democratic incumbent 48-40. Those numbers are virtuallly unchanged from previous Rasmussen polling.

The Rasmussen data is here.