David Vitter leads Charlie Melancon in two new polls of Senate race
by Jan Moller - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- Two polls released this week show Republican David Vitter continuing to hold a substantial lead over Democrat Charlie Melancon in Louisiana's U.S. Senate race, with the rest of the 12-candidate field on the Nov. 2 ballot trailing far behind. Vitter leads Melancon by 18 points, 52 percent to 34 percent, according to an automated telephone poll of 1,232 likely voters conducted Sunday evening by Magellan Data & Mapping Strategies. Although the Louisville, Colo.-based firm works mainly for Republicans, the poll was paid for by the firm and was not done at the behest of a candidate or interest group, according to its chief executive. The second poll, paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, has Vitter with a 10-point lead over Melancon, 48 percent to 38 percent. The Democratic poll of 800 likely voters was conducted by the Washington, D.C., firm of Bennett, Petts & Normington, which could not be reached for comment. David Flaherty, Magellan's chief executive, said the results mean Melancon "has got a hill to climb, there's no question about that. He's dealing with a difficult environment."