A second poll released in the last 24 hours confirms that the 6th Congressional District contest is extremely close less than two weeks before election day. According to the poll released today by Minnesota Public Radio, 45 percent of those surveyed support Democratic challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg, while 43 percent favor incumbent Republican Michele Bachmann. MPR surveyed 430 likely voters and the poll had a +/- 4.7 percent margin of error.

SurveyUSA found nearly identical results in a poll released last night. The survey, commissioned by KSTP (Channel 5) gauged Tinklenberg’s support at 47 percent and Bachmann’s at 44 percent. SurveyUSA tapped 700 registered voters and the poll had a +/- 4.0 margin of error

Both narrow leads for the Democrat are statistically insignificant. But the polls confirm the widespread assumption that Bachmann’s recent “anti-American” gaffe, coupled with Tinklenberg’s dramatic uptick in fundraising, has fundamentally altered the race. Just a week ago the incumbent was widely assumed to be cruising to re-election.

Perhaps tellingly the “In the News” feature on Bachmann’s web site, which trumpets an 11-point polling lead for the Republican, has not been updated since prior to her Hardball blowup.