The Polling Game
Okay we are going to break the PJ policy and do a poll post because I did a TV story about a Rasmussen poll a month ago showing Democrat Rick Noriega only four points behind Senator John Cornyn, and now the same poll shows something totally different.
The latest version of the same poll has Cornyn clobbering Noriega, 52% to 35%. (Note: Cornyn breaks 50%... something we haven't seen much yet.)
For his part, Rick Noriega's polished up his look and his game, darting around last week's state Democratic convention like some sort of celebrity (complete with the documentary cameras following him around). The substance of what he's saying hasn't changed much, but the stump speech delivery has improved since primary season.
I sat in the back of the press room during a Q and A with Texas press, and Noriega had a chummy style with reporters -- "Hey, you cut your hair" or "Elise, you look like a raccoon". (I'm told by Stiles that this is kind of a Houston politics type of style). But when it came to dealing with lots of questions on lots of topics, he was not as smooth or articulate. I think this was observed when Noriega debated Ray McMurrey during the primary debate.
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