Iowa Senate Poll: Harkin 57, Reed 41

Poll: Harkin 57, Reed 41

Despite an under-funded, nearly invisible campaign, Republican U.S. Senate challenger Christopher Reed is polling 41 percent to incumbent Tom Harkin's 57 in a new Rasmussen poll.

Reed appears to be holing the Republican base vote, despite dissent in GOP ranks and a lack of support from the state party, simply by being Not Tom Harkin. He performed nearly as well as Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who had 44 percent in the same survey to Barack Obama's 52 percent.

The poll was conducted Thursday, the same day Reed called Harkin the “Tokyo Rose of al Qaeda and Middle East terrorism” in a debate. Rasmussen's previous poll, a month earlier, showed a similar margin, with Harkin leading Reed 54 persent to 40.

In other findings, Rasmussen found Governor Chet Culver, not on the ballot until 2010, with good or excellent marks from 45 percent of Iowa voters, while 22 percent rate the governor's performance as poor.