Poll: Republican holds slim lead in Colo.

A new Democratic survey conducted for two progressive organizations finds Democratic Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) narrowly trailing his Republican challenger, Rep. Cory Gardner.

{mosads}The survey, conducted by Public Policy Polling for ProgressNow Colorado and Americans for Tax Fairness, gives Gardner 47 percent support to Udall’s 45 percent among likely voters. Eight percent remain undecided.

The 2-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error, but it’s the latest in a series of public surveys showing Gardner ahead in a race that’s fast becoming one of Democrats’ biggest headaches this election cycle.

PPP also surveyed Coloradans on a series of hot-button issues, including whether they’d be more likely to support a candidate who wants to “protect a woman’s right to choose,” who “believes we just can’t afford ObamaCare” and who wants “to make sure the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.”

ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Amy Runyon-Harris said the results of the survey show Udall is on the right side of most of the issues polled, and particularly on tax fairness issues. She suggested, however, more needs to be done to inform voters of his positions.

“We’ve got 40-odd days here left [before Election Day] to educate voters about where Mark Udall stands on these issues and where Cory Gardner stands on these issues,” she said, expressing confidence that once voters learned more they’d support Udall.

But the spate of rough polling for Udall seems to indicate that, regardless of voters’ positions on the issues, Udall is swimming against the tide facing Democrats nationwide as voters remain gravely dissatisfied with President Obama. The new PPP poll shows him deep underwater, with 58 percent disapproving of his job performance and only 35 percent approving.

The automated survey was conducted among 652 likely voters Sept. 19-21 via landlines and cellphones.