PROVIDENCE -- Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee begins the general election campaign trailing his Democratic opponent, Sheldon Whitehouse, by 8 percentage points, according to the first public poll since Chafee defeated Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in last week's GOP primary.

The poll of 500 likely Rhode Island voters by the national pollster Rasmussen Reports shows Whitehouse ahead 51 percent to 43 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points; it was conducted last Wednesday, the day after Chafee topped Laffey in one of the most hard fought and carefully watched primaries in the state's history.

The latest poll also suggests that Rhode Islanders more readily trust Democrats to handle the most pressing issues facing the country, though Chafee can take some comfort in the fact that 84 percent of Rhode Islanders say a candidate's "individual character" is more important than his or her political party in deciding how to vote.

The poll also shows improvement for Republican Governor Carcieri, who has moved slightly ahead of his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, 47 percent to 45 percent. A Rasmussen poll conducted last month shortly after Fogarty went on-air with his first TV ad showed Fogarty ahead, 46 percent to 41 percent, which was the first time in several Rasmussen polls that either candidate had a lead greater than the poll's error margin.

In a Rasmussen poll last month, Whitehouse, a former state attorney general and U.S. attorney, and Chafee were essentially tied in a hypothetical matchup.

Chafee campaign manager Ian Lang attributed the new poll numbers to the senator's rough primary campaign, which included heavy doses of attack advertising, including thousands of dollars in ads from outside groups. "He has been pummeled from the right and the left for the last year," Lang said. "We're comfortable that we are where we need to be."

Lang predicted "that gap will close," and that Chafee would prevail in November.

The poll also showed that Rhode Island, a state that leans Democratic, puts more trust in Democrats to address five key issues:

National security (48 percent trust Democrats, 39 percent trust Republicans).

The war in Iraq (56 to 34 percent).

The economy (56 to 33 percent).

Immigration (45 to 34 percent).

Taxes (51 to 35 percent).

Looking deeper into the numbers, people who identified themselves as Democrats or Republicans trusted their own party by overwhelming margins on the five major issues Rasmussen tested. Independents, however, reported that they trusted Democrats more on each issue, according to the poll.

Whitehouse spokeswoman Alex Swartsel said, "The national Republican Party has offered Rhode Islanders too many negative attacks and too few solutions, and these results show that what people in this state are really looking for is a new direction in Washington. Our momentum is growing, and Sheldon's working hard each day to share his ideas for change."

marsenau@projo.com / (401) 277-7231