Wulsin's poll: Dead even

Feel free to take this with a grain of salt - or low sodium salt substitute for the health conscious - but the 2nd Congressional District contest between Republican incumbent Jean Schmidt and Democrat Victoria Wulsin is starting out as a dead heat, according to a Wulsin poll.

Wulsin's campaign hired Momentum Analysis LLC - whose clients include the Democratic National Committee, Emily's List, Amnesty International and the Coach handbag company - to poll 403 likely 2nd District voters last weekend.

The result: 44 percent for each candidate, 11 percent undecided.

The same poll shows that only two of 10 voters in the district know who Wulsin is, which could be good news or bad news in a dead-heat race.

The Wulsin poll has over half (53 percent) of those polled rating Schmidt's job performance negatively.

Gleeful Wulsin campaign aides, knowing that they have a first-rate fundraising tool on their hands, declined our request for cross-tabs and script for the telephone poll.