| Finally. After nearly a month and a half, we have a new poll from Rasmussen in the Texas Senate race. Remember, a lot has changed since mid-August. Texas has seen Hurricane Ike, 2 weeks of Cornyn on TV, and a financial meltdown that will affect even the rather resilient Texas economy. All that, and the Senate race is the closest it has been since May, with Cornyn 50%, and Noriega up to 43%. See the chart below. If you look at the margins between Cornyn and Noriega, here is how they have tracked since Rasmusen began tracking the race. | Date | John Cornyn (R) | Rick Noriega (D)
| Undecided
| Margin
| May 1
| 47% | 43%
| 8% | -4 | June 2
| 52% | 35% | 7% | -17 | June 25
| 48% | 35% | 9% | -13 | | July 30 | 47% | 37% | 8% | -10 | August 21
| 48% | 37% | 9% | -11 | September 29
| 50% | 43% | 7% | -7 |
The undecided pool isn't that high and hasn't really changed. And the ebb and flow of the Democratic vote compared to the Presidential race seems to be tracking in a similar manner with the summer vote being lower than the spring and fall. For the first time in Rasmussen's polling since May, Noriega is out performing Obama's margin. Date
| John McCain (R)
| Barack Obama (D)
| Margin
| May 1 | 48% | 43% | -5 | June 2
| 52% | 39% | -13 | June 25
| 48% | 39% | -9 | July 30
| 50% | 41% | -9 | August 21
| 50% | 41% | -9 | September 29
| 52% | 43% | -9 |
This is welcome news for a Senate campaign that has essentially become a sleeper race in the national picture for the last few months. Looks like it's time to wake up to a single digit race again. The end of quarter deadline may have been yesterday, but now you've got a new reason to kick in a few $$$ to Rick Noriega. Oh, and be sure to watch his new web ad. Update: Ok, how could we resist. I think we're going to start seeing this graphic again and again. 
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