LA Times/USC (9/15-22, likely voters, 5/19-26 in parentheses):
Jerry Brown (D): 49 (44)
Meg Whitman (R): 44 (38)
Undecided: 5 (13)Barbara Boxer (D-inc): 51 (44)
Carly Fiorina (R): 43 (38)
Undecided: 4 (16)
(MoE: ±3.3%)
Here’s one more poll showing that the Democratic surge-let in California seems to be for real: the newest LA Times/USC poll gives mid-to-high single digit leads to both Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer. The poll’s trendlines go back to May, so they’ve missed a lot of ups and downs in the race, but the margins are similar to most of the other polls that have come out in the last few weeks. Apparently, all the Democrats needed to do to get some traction in these races was to… start advertising? Who knew?
Also, like most recent California polls, nobody’s very enthused about Brown (40/41) or Boxer (44/41), but they’re the paragon of popularity compared with Whitman (33/44) and Fiorina (24/29). The most popular person in the poll? Barack Obama, at a strangely high 63/33. That lack of disappointment, compared with pretty much every other state, seems to be part of what’s keeping California’s enthusiasm gap down to a manageable level. (Among all respondents, the Brown/Whitman margin isn’t any different, at 46-42. Boxer fares a bit better among all respondents, though, leading 53-38.)