The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds Senator Kerry with 51% of the vote in Maryland to 42% for President Bush. That's an improvement for Kerry since the first Presidential debate. In our survey released the day before that debate, Kerry's lead in Maryland had eroded to 3-percentage points, 48% to 45%.

Maryland should be a safe Democratic state. Al Gore won it by 17 points four years ago and its hard to imagine John Kerry losing it this year.

Michael Barone has written of a potential "Metroliner effect" that may be hurting Democrats along the Amtrak route from Washington to New York. States along that route were impacted heavily by 9/11 and appear to be less solidly in the Democratic camp than they were four years ago.

As a result of this latest survey, we are moving Maryland to "Leans Kerry" status for our Electoral College projections. We will also check on the state again soon to see if this result is a one-time aberration or a lasting change.

Forty-four percent (44%) of Maryland voters Approve of the way President Bush is performing his job. That's down from 48% in our previous survey and well below his national Job Approval rating.

Rasmussen Reports has recently released state election polls for Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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