Titus reminds Kihuen what day it is

If early political polls counted for much, canaries would be circling Ruben Kihuen’s head right now. The judges’ scorecard would read: "Titus by KO in the first round."

As it is, the match pitting Kihuen against veteran political pugilist Dina Titus figures to go the distance. (I have nearly reached my daily allotment of boxing references.)

Titus released an internal poll, which has generated a heap of mainstream media play, that shows her beating Kihuen 77 percent to 11 percent. The Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District is still a few months away, but if accurate the poll is a reminder that Titus enjoys big name recognition with diehard Democrats, the ones who regularly vote.

It’s also a sign that Kihuen has some work to do, which should come as no surprise to the much-touted Hispanic candidate.

Says Kihuen campaign manager Dan Chavez, "It is too early to tell what this poll means. The race is in June, not in a few weeks. Polls seven months out from Election Day are irrelevant; just ask Michelle Bachman and Herman Cain. Congressman Heck was lesser known in the 2010 election against Titus. Also, Dina has spent millions building her name ID over the past two decades. Ruben has never lost an election in this district and has proven that he can defeat well-financed candidates."

Enthuses Titus campaign manager Jay Gertsema, "We're thrilled to see that the first polling data released in this race shows Dina with a very strong majority of support among Democrats across the 1st district. This race is far from over, but we feel these numbers are a great start after Dina announced her candidacy."

It’s interesting to note that the internal poll result popped on a slow news day, which shows that the Titus camp is listening and watching the media. The R-J’s Laura Myers, who misses nothing on the campaign trail, has our story.

The fact Titus is taking the campaign to Kihuen’s kitchen not only reminds you that she’s a hard, serious candidate, but that she also probably knows that the race could get very tight very late if Kihuen can illustrate his viability overall and can generate some popularity in the voting Hispanic community.

The judges’ scorecards figure to get a lot more interesting from here.