And that’s against Linda McMahon, who initially took credit for exposing Richard Blumenthal’s serial fabrications about his service during the Vietnam era.  Rasmussen polled 500 likely voters in Connecticut the day after the New York Times dropped its bombshell report, and found Blumenthal’s formerly massive leads in the Senate race evaporating rapidly:

Following a New York Timesreport that he exaggerated his military record, Democratic Senate hopeful Richard Blumenthal has lost ground in match-ups against all his potential Republican challengers in Connecticut.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Connecticut finds Blumenthal with just a three-point advantage over Linda McMahon, 48% to 45%. Two weeks ago, he led the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment by 13 percentage points. The New York Times story broke late Monday; the survey was taken Tuesday evening.

When matched against former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons, Blumenthal leads by 11 – 50% to 39%. Two weeks ago, the longtime state attorney general held a 23-point lead over Simmons.

Blumenthal now leads Peter Schiff, a high-profile Wall Street investment banker, 53% to 37%. In the previous survey, he posted a 54% to 29% lead over Schiff.

The good news for Blumenthal is that he has any leads at all.  Normally, a revelation of this magnitude would destroy a career within hours.  So far, his attempts to spin his lies into some sort of unfair media attack may have stanched the bleeding … for now.  However, a majority (53%) said that this will be at least a somewhat important issue for them when it comes to the general election, and that means any further evidence of Blumenthal’s arrogation of undeserved credit will sink him even further.

Otherwise, likely voters are surprisingly forgiving.  Only 26% felt Blumenthal should withdraw.  Only the youngest voters had a majority for withdrawal (51/43), and only 51% of Republicans agreeing.  Some of the 34% who disagreed may have been thinking strategically in that a wounded Blumenthal may be an easier target than a fresh Democrat, but that looks more like an acquiescence among a large number of Connecticut Republicans.  The most surprising demographic on that question was among black voters, where a 46% plurality thought Blumenthal should quit, against only 33% who thought he should not, almost the same as Republicans and very much different from the 9/75 seen with Democrats.

There are other interesting results from Rasmussen’s internals, and these don’t look as good for Blumenthal as the toplines do, considering the news from this week.  Ninety percent of likely voters have closely watched the news of Arizona’s new immigration-enforcement law, and a plurality wants a law like that in their state, 48/35.  Sixty-three percent want law-enforcement officers —  in Connecticut — to check immigration status during lawful contact.  A 53% majority favors repeal of ObamaCare, with 44% opposing it.  Neither of these go very well with the current Democratic narratives, and those in combination with Blumenthal’s fabulism may turn into a toxic blend come November.