Rasmussen, 8/23: Obama 45%, McCain 42% (with leaners, Obama 48%, McCain 46%)

[highplainsdem]

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Obama attracting 45% of the vote John McCain earns 42%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 48% and McCain 46% (see recent daily results). Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day.

Earlier this morning, Obama announced his choice of Joe Biden to be his running mate.

Biden—who had been the frontrunner all week according to Rasmussen Markets data-- is viewed favorably by 43% of voters nationwide, unfavorably by 38%. Other than Hillary Clinton, Biden is better known than any other names floated recently as prospective running mates. Biden, who has spent more than half his life as a Senator from Delaware, is seen as politically liberal by 41%, moderate by 22%, and conservative by 15%. Obama is seen as politically liberal by 63% of voters.

This afternoon Rasmussen Reports will be asking voters nationwide if Obama made the right choice and other reaction to his decision. Results will be available Saturday evening Eastern Time. Sign up for our free daily e-mail update and we’ll notify you as soon as the results come in!

McCain is now viewed favorably by 56% of the nation’s voters, Obama by 55% (see trends).

The Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator currently shows now Obama leading in states with 193 Electoral College votes while McCain leads in states with 183 votes. When leaners are included, it’s Obama 264, McCain 247. Only three states remain in the toss-up category—Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada. New polling data has been released for Indiana, California, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

In New Mexico, Obama maintains a modest but steady lead while the Senate race has gotten a bit tighter. Other state polling data shows a toss-up in New Hampshire, Obama with a narrow lead in Pennsylvania, and McCain with an advantage in Ohio, Louisiana and Florida (see 50-State Summary).

-snip-

[book_worm]

1. Good! I think it's the beginning of an upward trend with the house controversy and going into the

convention.

[highplainsdem]

2. Actually, McCain's favorable rating is up a point. I think most DUers are overestimating the impact

of Housegate. And even if McCain adds Romney to the ticket, our fussing about how wealthy that ticket is won't seem that persuasive to voters and journalists who remember how wealthy Kerry and Edwards are.

The houses comment was a gaffe, and it might have cost McCain a few votes. But it's unrealistic to think it was a game changer. Since they came back with Rezko, I think it was a wash. But we'll see. There's no sign yet that it's affecting the polls, and with the Democratic convention starting the day after tomorrow, it will be hard to tell what effect Housegate has on the polls. Right now I'm more concerned about a VP choice not in agreement with the choice the polls showed the majority of Democrats, including our delegates, would have preferred. I'm not sure we've ever had a nominee ignore a VP preference held by a majority of the party.

[jefferson_dem]

3. McCondo's gaffe is not a game changer but it's a narrative solidifier.

It offers a perfect foil for the passionate populist message Obama is working with. The "how many homes" gaffe, along with the $5 million a year is rich gaffe, will be the gift that keeps giving. Just watch.

[Andy823]

4. I don't know

Seems like most democrats don't have any problem with Biden, I don't, and I only see a handful here who have a problem, and we all know why that is, don't we?

Biden is a good pick, he has more experience than any of the others, and he is not hated by every republican in the country, and that helps when it comes to bringing in republicans that are fed up with the way this country has gone to hell the last 8 years. I think this ticket is a winner, and Obama made a great choice!

[NYC Liberal]

5. It's only the start.

Now Obama is going to change McCain's image. That doesn't happen over night. It'll happen through the rest of the camapign and slowly but surely, people are going to be shown the REAL McCain. The McCain who takes 9-car motorcade to get a latte at Starbucks, who has so many houses he can't keep track of them, who wears $500 shoes.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

6. Oh, go ahead & let yourself have one little sliver of hope for the (actual) ticket.

It won't kill you, honest.

[book_worm]

7. We'll see where the polls are by mid week.

[NYC_SKP]

8. "VP preference held by a majority of the party"??? Let her go, let Hillary go...

You can't prove that assertion, polls don't mean squat and IF it was true that HRC was the popular choice by any margin, you know what?

The media would have been all over it, and we'd be hearing nothing but "he made the wrong choice, oh my.."

So, highplainsdem, I call bullshit on that claim and hope you can get behind the ticket, even though it's not what you wanted.

:patriot:

[highplainsdem]

9. The media were reporting this all along, the polls were posted here, you closed your eyes to the

evidence.

I'm voting for the ticket. I just believe it was a mistake for Obama to ignore the preference of the majority of Democrats.

DU:GDP bears very little resemblance to the Democratic Party overall. Clinton supporters were driven out, and the Clinton-haters left here happily brainwashed themselves into believing most Democrats agreed with them about Clinton. The Clinton-haters are wrong. We had two polls come out this past week showing that Clinton is still polling better against McCain than Obama is, and that the Democrats aren't as united as the Republicans. You can ignore the polls if you want, but I'm surprised and disappointed that Obama chose to. I believe Clinton would have been more realistic as our nominee, even if she didn't particularly want Obama as her VP, and she'd have asked him to be her running mate so we'd have the unity ticket that would have given us the best chance of winning.

[NYC_SKP]

10. If it was as simple as polling, then following the polls, things would be different.

Like her or not, like Biden or not, the complexity of the dynamics is far too complicated for us to say that polls can be used as affirmative and reliable guides to the best direction to take.

Everyone, and I mean every possible choice, came with pros and cons.

I don't know that anyone here can profess to know more about it than the campaign and their hundreds of pretty seasoned specialists.

What matters is that we end the craziness of the past several years, then do our best to influence the new direction that we all hope for the country to take.

:toast: