This poll blogged about at Maryland Moment last week was a precursor to this weekend’s announcement that Robert Ehrlich was leaning toward not running for governor again:

But a Washington Post poll released today shows O’Malley enjoying a comfortable lead in a hypothetical rematch — in fact, a significantly larger one than O’Malley won by in 2006.

If the election were held today, the poll asked, for whom would you vote?

A full 57 percent said O’Malley and 36 percent chose Ehrlich — a 21 point margin. That compares to the November 2006 election results when O’Malley won 53-46, a 7 point margin.

The poll, conducted Oct. 16-20 among a random sample of 1,005 adults, found that 56 percent of voters viewed O’Malley favorably, while 48 percent had a favorable impression of Ehrlich.

Both O’Malley and Ehrlich have seen their favorable numbers drop since October 2006, right before the election.

O’Malley received a favorable rating from 62 percent in 2006, while Ehrlich was viewed favorably by 56 percent. Ehrlich’s drop is partly the result of more voters not having an opinion on the subject. That figure has grown from 5 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2008.

Previously:
More on Ehrlich
Ehrlich won’t run for Governor again?