Democrats from Des Moines, Iowa, to Washington, D.C., have been making much of the Des Moines Register's "Iowa Poll" showing Democrat Mike Franken closing in on the Hawkeye state's seven-term Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
According to the state's most durable and famous poll, Grassley led first-time candidate and retired U.S. Navy Adm. Franken by slim margin of 46%-43% among likely voters statewide.
Since the poll was released Oct. 15, numerous national media outlets have run major pieces concluding Grassley was locked in the toughest battle of his 42 years in the Senate and could be defeated. The Washington Post headline Tuesday blared: "Has Grassley Finally Met His Match?"
But Grassley supporters dismiss the veracity of the "Iowa Poll."
"It's an outlier," former Polk County (Des Moines) GOP Chairman Kim Schmett told Newsmax. "And two other very respected polls show Chuck headed to a comfortable reelection."
Schmett specifically cited the Emerson College poll, which showed Grassley comfortably leading Franken 49%-38%, and the Cygnal Poll, which gave the senator a healthy 54%-40% edge over Franken.
Much of the press has pointed out the Iowa Poll showed more than two-thirds of the voters considered Grassley's age (89) an important factor in the race. The age factor almost certainly is related to the Iowa Poll showing, for the first time, voters disapproving of the senator's performance in office by 48%-44%.
Grassley supporters counter their man — the oldest and most senior of all 100 senators — is still maintaining the annual regiment of visiting all 99 counties in Iowa that is his signature.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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