Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) stepped in it Tuesday night during a debate with his political rivals, Republican Mike Braun and independent candidate Lucy Brenton.
Will it have a serious impact on the results of the race? Let’s take a look.
A look at the current state of the race shows that the polls are trending away from Donnelly. A poll conducted in early October showed the incumbent senator up 4 points on Braun. Another showed Donnelly up 1 percentage point. But polls conducted in mid- to late-October showed the Republican Braun surging ahead of Donnelly by 3- and 4-point margins. The independent Brenton earns anywhere from 3 to 8 percent support in these polls.
The issues in the race are not unlike many other races across the country. Topics like tax cuts and health care are commonplace in stump speeches and in campaign ads. Another hot topic in the race is outsourcing. Donnelly and Braun have thrown barbs at each other on that front since the very beginning.
Then came Donnelly’s debate flub Tuesday night. To see video of Donnelly’s remark, as well as a transcript, and analysis, sign up for a free trial of AR Intel today!