Second Poll Has Deeds Atop McDonnell

Yesterday we said we'd like to see 2-3 polls in Virginia before we draw any conclusions as to who the early leader is. A second poll is now out, albeit from the Democratic Governors Association--not exactly a neutral source--and it also shows Deeds with a small lead over his GOP opponent Bob McDonnell.

In the DGA poll, Deeds is up 42%-38%, with a considerable number of voters undecided. Make no mistake about it, this will be a hotly contested race, with a lot of money coming in from around the country.

The good news for Deeds is that McDonnell has already spent $2 million on feel-good ads without, apparently, gaining all that much traction. The fact is, the Commonwealth is pretty closely divided between red and blue these days, so a lot will depend on turnout. McDonnell partisans, however, can't be all that happy about these early poll results.