It's not the double-digit advantage he frequently enjoyed in polling against Luther Strange but Republican Roy Moore still has a solid lead on Democrat Doug Jones in the early stages of Alabama's Senate general election campaign.

According to a poll released Tuesday by JMC Analytics and Polling, Moore garnered 48 percent support from the 500 poll participants. Jones received 40 percent of the vote. The landline phone poll, conducted Saturday and Sunday, has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

The poll also included a question that perhaps indicated the race could get tighter. Poll participants were asked if they would prefer for a Democrat or a Republican and 49 percent said Republican while 45 percent said Democrat.

According to the poll summary, "There are three main takeaways from this poll: (1) Roy Moore starts off with a comfortable lead, but he is not at or above 50 percent in the ballot test, (2) the slim margin by which respondents prefer a generic Republican candidate (in a state Donald Trump carried 62-34% last year) should be of some concern to Republicans both in Alabama and nationally, (3) while an absolute majority of voters believe that Roy Moore is qualified to be a U.S. Senator, it is a slim 50 percent majority."

Former Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Birmingham today to headline a rally for Jones.

The poll found that softening support for President Trump could be a troubling sign for Moore. Only 51 percent of poll participants said they approve of Trump's job performance while 41 percent disapproved and 8 percent were undecided.

And while 65 percent of evangelicals - considered the backbone of Moore's base - approve of Trump, 8 percent are undecided, according to the poll.

"The ballot tests show Roy Moore in decent shape, but he still faces a competitive race, particularly since respondents are only narrowly inclined to support a 'generic' Republican candidate," the poll summary said.

This is the second Senate poll conducted since Moore defeated Strange in the Sept. 26 GOP primary runoff. That poll, by Decision Desk HQ, had Moore leading by six points.

Alabama Senate poll 10.3.17 by pgattis7719 on Scribd