Well, this poll makes a bit more sense.

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll almost two months ago that had Mikie Sherrill leading Jack Ciattarelli by about 20 points was ridiculed by just about everyone who cares about this type of stuff.

The margin was just too large.

Since then, there have been two other polls.

A StimSight Research poll by Patrick Murray that had Sherrill leading by 6 points and a FDU poll that had her up by 8 points.

Now comes another Rutgers-Eagleton poll, which has Sherrill leading Ciattarelli by 9 points. This was of "likely voters."

So, there you have it. Three recent polls. Average them out and Sherrill is up by almost 8 points.

In a state with about 900,000 more registered Dems than Republicans, that seems reasonable.

Look into the latest poll and a few things pop out.  One is further confirmation of how so-called traditional political beliefs have turned around.

One speaks of the notion Republicans are the party of the upper class regarding wealth and education. In other words, the elite.

That has been changing for some time nationally and the Eagleton poll confirms the same thing here in New Jersey.

Consider the following from the poll.
"Sherrill does better with voters who have at least a college degree (53% to 26%), while Ciattarelli does better with those who have some college or less (34% to 45%)."

And then:

"Sherrill’s lead over Ciattarelli is largest among voters in households making $150,000 or more annually (58% to 28%)."

So, the educated (relatively speaking) and the wealthy back the Democrat by about a 2-1 margin.

Let's skip any analysis at the moment and stick with the practical.

New Jersey, generally speaking, is well educated and affluent. And that's why Sherrill is in the lead,

Ciattarelli, of course, can't do anything about the demographics. His challenge is to reduce Sherrill's advantage among - if you wish to be snotty - the "elites."

* * *

Ciattarelli is continuing to be just about everywhere he can be - dropping by diners, restaurants and county fairs. (Now is the season for that).

His social media page is also showing a growing list of events over the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

As for Sherrill, she has just unveiled proposals on two state issues - helping small businesses and reducing energy costs.