As the Virginia governor's race enters its final week, Republican Bob McDonnell continues to hold a commanding lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Tuesday, when President Obama campaigned for Deeds.

The survey gave McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, a 54 percent to 41 percent advantage over Deeds, a state senator. That finding is consistent with the results of numerous other polls in the past week that gave McDonnell a double-digit lead.

According to the poll, which canvassed 1,000 registered voters who say they are likely to vote in the Nov. 3 election, 62 percent of respondents said that they had either a "very favorable" or "somewhat favorable" impression of McDonnell, compared to 30 percent who said they had an unfavorable impression of the Republican.

The New Jersey electorate is still in flux about its choice for governor, according to findings in two new polls from the New York Times and Rasmussen Reports.

The New York Times poll, conducted Oct. 9 -13, found that 30 percent of likely voters might change their minds about their vote before the Nov. 3 election. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percent.

And the Rasmussen Reports poll found that 20 percent of Republican Chris Christie's backers and 27 percent of those supporting Democrat incumbent Jon Corzine said they are not certain about their choice, while a whopping 57 percent of those backing independent Chris Daggett said they may still change their minds. Rasmussen's margin of error was also plus or minus 4 percent.

Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, must be wishing that some of the popularity of President Obama and outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine rubs off on him in the next three weeks.

A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Oct. 12 showed that Deeds continues to trail Republican nominee Bob McDonnell ahead of the Nov. 3 election, even as narrow majorities of Virginia voters also approve of the job performances of Democrats Obama and Kaine.

The latest survey, which was conducted of 500 registered voters who say they are likely to vote, had McDonnell leading Deeds, 50 percent to 43 percent. That's consistent with recent surveys that have pegged McDonnell's lead in the high single digits.

In the “who’s to blame for this lousy economy?” sweepstakes, more than half of voters believe former President George W. Bush should bear the blame, while more than a third say it’s President Obama’s fault, says a Rasmussen survey conducted Oct. 2-3.

In the telephone poll of 1,000 likely voters, 55 percent blamed the current financial situation on a recession which began under Bush, while 37 percent said the troubles stem from the policies President Obama has put in place since taking office.

Most voters trust their own judgment more than the president’s when it comes to economic issues affecting the nation: 59 percent trust themselves, 29 percent trust Obama more and 12 percent are not sure.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway appears to have the best shot at defeating either of the two Republican candidates who hope to fill the Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, according to a Rasmussen Research Reports poll taken Sept. 30.

Conway, a Democrat, holds a slender 42 percent to 38 percent lead over eye surgeon Rand Paul, who is running for the Republican nomination for Senate and is tied at 40 percent with in a trial heat with Republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson, according to the Rasmussen survey.

Both Grayson and Paul hold slight leads over Democratic Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, 44 percent to 37 percent and 43 percent to 38 percent, respectively.

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln registers no higher than 41 percent and trails four prospective Republican challengers among likely voters in hypothetical match-ups, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 28. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

State Sen. Gilbert Baker, who declared his candidacy earlier this month, is the only one of the Republicans with a statistically significant lead over Lincoln, who is seeking a third term in 2010 - 47 percent to 39 percent. State Senate Minority Leader Kim Hendren leads Lincoln 44 percent to 41 percent, while Tom Cox, head of the Arkansas T.E.A. Party is up 43 to 40 percent and Curtis Coleman, CEO of Safe Foods Corp., leads 43 to 41 percent.

The latest of a slew of polls on Virginia's Nov. 3 contest for governor -- this one by Rasmussen Reports and conducted Sept. 29 -- suggests the more surveys that are in the field, the wider the range of possible outcomes.

The Rasmussen poll is the second this week suggesting that Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, has a comfortable lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds, a state senator.

But those polls came directly on the heels of other surveys that showed Deeds has closed to within a low-to-mid single-digit margin.

Rasmussen's poll of 500 Virginians who say they are likely to vote gives McDonnell 51 percent and Deeds 42 percent. A SurveyUSA poll conducted Sept. 26-29 gave McDonnell a 14-point edge, 55 percent to 41 percent.

These results compare with the much-smaller 5-point lead for McDonnell, 48 percent to 43 percent, in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Sept. 25-28.

A plurality of likely Arizona voters thinks Sen. John McCain has not done a good job of representing Republican values, but a majority still approves of his job performance, according to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports.

In the poll, conducted Sept. 24, 46 percent of respondents said McCain has lost touch with Republican voters, including 61 percent of Republicans. That is an 11 percent increase since May among GOP voters who don’t think he represents their base.

Thirty-six percent of likely voters and 33 percent of Republicans said the five-term senator has a done a good job of representing GOP values. Seventeen percent weren’t sure.

Despite discontent within his base, McCain still looks like a strong favorite for re-election. Fifty-six percent of likely voters approved of his job performance, 22 percent strongly. Forty-three percent disapproved, 24 percent strongly.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is outpolling his likely opponents for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and for the 2010 general election, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey taken Sept. 24.

Brown, who served two terms as governor in the 1970s, has a higher favorability rating than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, 53 percent to 45 percent.

And in a hypothetical general election race, Brown leads former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate, 44 percent to 35 percent, and two other candidates now seeking the Republican nomination, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner 45 percent to 32 percent, and former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell 44 percent to 34 percent, according to Rasmussen.

Public support continues to erode for plans by the White House and congressional Democrats to overhaul the nation's health care system, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll taken Sept. 24-25.

Forty-one percent of likely voters said they support the overhaul proposals now making their way through Congress, while 56 percent say they oppose these plans, Rasmussen said.

The intensity of opinion appears to be on the side of opponents, 43 percent of whom strongly oppose the plans as currently proposed while 23 percent strongly favor them.