Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio seems to have lost support since telling the president to take his endorsement and "shove it," according to an NBC 10-Quest Research poll released Wednesday night.
The poll asked the preferences of 523 likely voters and has a margin of error of about 4 percent. The NBC 10-Quest Research poll is part of WJAR's election year partnership with Rhode Island College and the American Democracy Project.
Thirty-five percent said they would vote for independent Lincoln Chafee or were leaning that way, followed by Republican John Robitaille with 28 percent and Caprio with 25 percent. The margin of error leaves Robitaille and Caprio in a statistical tie. Moderate Party candidate Ken Block had 2 percent. Ten percent said they were undecided.
Caprio was in the lead in an NBC 10-Quest Research poll released Oct. 12, followed by Chafee and Robitaille.
Caprio, the general treasurer, said Monday that President Barack Obama can "shove it" after learning Obama would not endorse him. Obama did not endorse any of the candidates for Rhode Island governor.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents in the latest NBC 10-Quest Research poll said they were less likely to vote for Caprio because of his remarks, but 57 percent said the comment made no difference to them. Seven percent said they were more likely to vote for Caprio. (Please note 456 people in the total sample of 523 were asked this question.)
"Just in terms of the raw numbers, I don't think this is good news for Caprio at all," said Valerie Endress, a professor of political communication at Rhode Island College. "I think that did have an impact and it was a calculated risk. They were hoping they would get opposite results from this, and they obviously didn't."
But Caprio told NBC 10 on Wednesday night that he stands by what he said.
"I'll let the comment stand. Again, this is about the people of Rhode Island. It's a very important election. The race has been close all the way through and it's anybody's ballgame," Caprio said.
Chafee was down as much as 12 points in the past, but he's now at the top with just a few days to go.
"Mr. Caprio's comments about the president when he came I think were not received well by Rhode Islanders," Chafee said. "This has been a crazy campaign. I guess that's the understatement."
The poll also showed Republican John Robitaille gaining ground in the home stretch.
"There is a shift. We didn't have the money that the Caprio and Chaffee camp had. They got up on TV a lot earlier. I entered the race with much lower name recognition," Robitaille said.
But Endress cautioned that a lot can happen between now and Election Day.
"There's still a lot of time in the election. There's going to be a lot of events going on, and things could change," Endress said.
All three front-runners will get some help from nationally known figures in the final days of the campaign.
President Clinton comes to Rhode Island on Sunday to stump for Caprio.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will campaign for Chafee on Monday. They are tentatively scheduled to tour the new intermodal station at T.F. Green Airport.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will come Monday afternoon to rally for Robitaille in Cranston. They'll be joined by term-limited Gov. Don Carcieri and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung.
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