If it was a "tight race" it would be 44-44.
McAulife could literally be up by 7-8 and we'd still get "close race!!!" headlines.
A 4 point race is “tight” in the sense that one wrong move by the candidate ahead could make it 50-50.
More accurately, a 4 point race is tight because the poll has a 3% margin of error (meaning the result could be anywhere from McAuliffe 51/41 to Youngkin 47/45).
3% on both sides is 6%? If that’s the case, then being tied in a MoE situation of 1000 means any race less than 6 points.