Republican Robert F. McDonnell has now opened a 13-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds with less than a week to go in the race for governor of Virginia.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state - taken last night just after President Obama made a campaign appearance for Deeds in the state - shows McDonnell ahead 54% to 41%. Only four percent (4%) remain undecided.

Earlier this month, McDonnell led by seven, and last month he was up by nine.

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The Deeds campaign and the White House have gone back-and-forth over whether the president should make a campaign appearance in the state. The initial reaction from Virginia voters to the president's campaign stop with Deeds late yesterday in Norfolk isn't reassuring: 39% say Obama campaigning for Deeds in Virginia makes them less likely to vote for the Democratic candidate. Just 24% say it makes them more likely to vote for Deeds, and 36% say it has no impact on their voting decision.

Among those likely to vote, 49% approve of the way Obama has handled his job as president. That’s down four points from earlier in the month.

McDonnell is overwhelmingly trusted more than Deeds on both taxes and government spending. On the transportation issue, 45% trust McDonnell while 35% trust Deeds.

Although Deeds has hammered McDonnell over the conservative social views in a college thesis paper the latter wrote in 1989, the impact of the thesis is fading. Deeds has been on the defensive since stumbling over a debate question last month, opening himself to charges that he is willing to raise taxes.

Just 41% of voters now say McDonnell's thesis is at least somewhat important in determining how they will vote. Twenty-four percent (24%) say it is very important. But 51% rate the thesis as unimportant, with 23% saying it's not very important and 28% viewing it as not at all important.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of voters in the state have a favorable view of McDonnell, up three points from earlier in the month and up nine points from last month.

Deeds is viewed favorably by 47%, a number that has been holding stable.

This race is markedly different from the other governor’s race this year. The New Jersey’s governor’s race is a toss-up. Not only that, all three major candidates in the race have wrapped up very high negative ratings. Unlike Virginia, whoever wins in New Jersey will be disliked by at least half the state’s voters.

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