Toxic: Democrat In MD Gubernatorial Race Drops 9 Points After Obama Campaign Event

A surprising, soon-to-be-released poll leaked to the Daily Caller today, shows the gubernatorial race in deep blue Maryland tightening to within 2 points – 46 to 44, between Democratic Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown and Republican small businessman Larry Hogan.

Although the poll could be an outlier, the DC’s Matt Lewis points out that if accurate, it represents a nine point shift from a week ago, when, according RealClearPolitics, Hogan was down by 11 points.

Although it’s impossible to know for sure what happened in the past week that would cause such a reversal in political fortunes, it’s not unreasonable to consider the president’s visit on the campaign trail, last week.

As Lewis notes, “President Obama — not welcome on the trail in red states — campaigned for Brown in Maryland, where crowds began streaming out during his speech, leaving empty bleachers behind.”

Could it be that President Obama is such a drag on Democrats that he even hurts them in … Maryland? That’s one possibility. Another factor: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the head of the Republican Governor’s Association, has also been stumping hard for him.