Republican gubernatorial Chris Christie’s lead over Governor Jon Corzine remains basically unchanged while independent Christopher Daggett toils in obscurity, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released this evening.

Christie leads Corzine 48% to 41% -- a significantly insignificant one point drop in his lead from earlier this month, when Rasmussen showed him ahead of Corzine 46% to 38%.  Daggett polls at 6%.

Corzine’s approval rating remains upside down, with 38% of respondents approving and 61% disapproving.  45% of respondents “strongly disapprove” of Corzine.  

Corzine’s favorable ratings are pretty much the same at 39% favorable and 60% unfavorable.  Voters are split on how they view Christie.  Forty-eighty percent see him favorably, while 46% have an unfavorable view of him. 

Almost half of voters -- 45% -- don’t know enough about Daggett to form a strong opinion, although Rasmussen’s data suggests shows him attracting 8% of Democrats, 5% of unaffiliated voters and 2% of Republicans.

“The data suggests that a segment of the initially undecided voters may have already rejected Corzine and are now trying to decide whether to vote for Christie or Daggett,” reads the poll. “While it may no longer be possible for Corzine to attract 50% of the statewide vote, Democrats may hope to reduce Christie’s total by persuading some anti-Corzine votes to pull the lever for Daggett rather than Christie. That remains a plausible path to victory.”

Rasmussen, an automated poll, surveyed 500 likely voters on Monday, September 21.  It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5%.