Dickerson Tops Carson In Latest Poll

CARSON'S RE-ELECTION BID IN TROUBLE
Sending shock waves through local and national Democratic circles, a new WTHR-TV poll shows that Republican Eric Dickerson has erased a big lead earlier polls showed for Rep. Julia Carson (D) and has taken a slight lead in the race, edging her by a 45%-42% margin. Of those surveyed, 9% were undecided while another 4% of the voters favored a third candidate. As Democrats have spent the past year focusing on Indiana's 2nd, 8th and 9th congressional districts, Eric Dickerson has been working hard in the trenches like Mike Mulligan and the little steamshovel that could.

A poll taken a little more than a month ago by WISH-TV showed Carson with a seemingly insurmountable twenty-point lead of 55%-35%. Carson stunned local political observers when she went on the offensive and publicly attacked Dickerson for a 15-year-old unproven allegation of domestic violence during a meeting with the Indianapolis Star's editorial staff. At the same time, questions have mounted in the public's mind about Carson's physical and mental health. These two issues have combined to work against Carson's bid to win a sixth term in Congress.

Particularly troubling for Carson in this latest poll is her personal approval rating. The poll found that by a 49%-42% margin, voters in the 7th District disapproved of her job performance. That's devastating for a 10-year veteran of Congress. Carson told WTHR-TV that she intended to remind voters during the remaining days of the campaign of what she had accomplished during her decade of service and what she will continue to do if she is re-elected. Dickerson, on the other hand, says the poll results are a confirmation of what he's been hearing from the voters, and that he plans to continue what he's been doing to win the 7th District race.

Although Carson's latest campaign finance reports show that she had $324,000 on hand as of October 1 compared to the $21,000 Dickerson's campaign reported, she has been nearly invisible on the local airways. Dickerson, with his limited resources, launched a modest radio ad buy to bolster his election bid, but his success to date appears to be based on the grassroots campaign he's been running for more than 10 months with virtually no support from the Republican Party. As Carson returned from the congressional recess to begin campaigning this month, her public appearances quickly raised questions about her health. During an appearance on WTHR's "Political Insiders", she raised eyebrows as her mind wandered and she began talking about a little girl who appeared and then disappeared. She asked where the little girl went. Similarly, a Star editorial reluctantly endorsing her re-election noted that her mind wandered and her answers were disjointed during her interview with the editorial staff.

It's a new day in the 7th District race. Let's see if the local media start paying attention to this race as it should have from the beginning. We've heard enough about the 2nd, 8th and 9th District races in the far reaches of the state. Let's start talking about the candidates and issues in the 7th District. Keep an eye out. The mainstream media doesn't like to be proven wrong. The Star, which has been Rep. Carson's number one enabler all these years, will most assuredly set out on a mission to set the voters straight from its warped perspective. AI will do its part to counter the onslaught which will invariably follow today's news. This election will be decided by the voters and not by the eggheads over at the Star if AI has anything to say about it.