Washington Post Skews Poll Against Steele

The Washington Post has released a new poll purporting to show Michael Steele trailing Ben Cardin by eleven points in the Maryland Senate race.

                   Cardin   Steele      
10/26/06 LV     54         43

The poll of likely voters over sampled Democrats by 8 points based upon election results from 2004.

Party affiliation for the new WaPo poll:

                  Dem.     Rep.     Ind.     Something else     No opinion
10/26/06 RV   56        30       11             3                       1

Party affiliation as per exit polling in 2004, which in itself may have been a skewed sample given that the exit polls were so far off the mark in many states:

Democrat (48%) 

Republican (30%) 

Independent (22%)

A recent Rassmussen poll had Cardin up by 5, while a Survey USA poll had the race tied - via Real Clear Politics. With two seemingly skewed WaPo polls in the RCP average adjusted and including the two other polls, it's quite possible the race is a dead heat.