Today’s Quinnipiac poll must be devastating to under siege Sen. Mark Udall.  The top line shows that Udall is statistically tied with Rep. Cory Gardner at 44% and Udall at 42%.  What’s the big deal, you ask?  Udall has already spent $7 million of the $13 million he raised, mostly on negative attacks on Gardner.  The result?  Udall is worse off than he was eight months ago.  This is probably the worst poll of the year for him.

And, this poll comes on the heels of Stu Rothenberg moving the Colorado Senate race from Leans D to Tossup.  This is just more evidence that Republicans can win in November.  But, it’s not just the top line number that should worry Team Udall.

Udall’s unfavorables are the highest they’ve ever been at 43% and have increased a whopping five points since April.  Ouch. Climbing unfavorables usually lead to declining head to head numbers. In other words, the higher the unfavorables go, the lower Udall’s ballot test numbers likely will be.

Here’s another terrible number for Udall.  The question is “do you feel that Mark Udall deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected?”  Shot: Overall, the answer was no.  Forty-nine percent of respondents said no and 40% respondents said yes.  Chaser: Among independents, 50% said he does not deserve re-election compared to 38% who said he does.

Even worse, 44% respondents think Gardner would be better at helping the middle class, compared with 39% of those who think Udall would do a better job. On government spending, Gardner wins again.  Of those who responded, 45% think Gardner would do a better job cutting government spending compared to 37% who thought Udall would.

The survey was conducted July 10-14 and included 1,147 registered voters via land lines and cell phones with a margin of error of +/- 2.9%.

Tough break for Udall, but that’s what happens when you’re elected to represent Colorado and you spend six years creating seating arrangements.