Friday, May 16, 2008

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The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Maine shows Barack Obama leading John McCain by thirteen percentage points, 51% to 38%. The candidates are fairly evenly matched among men, but Obama has a twenty-two percentage point lead among men.

A month ago, the presumptive Democratic nominee held a ten point advantage over his Republican counterpart.

Currently, Obama is viewed favorably by 57% of the state’s voters, McCain by 50%. For Obama, those figures reflect a two-point decline over the past month. For McCain, it’s a five-point drop.

The survey also found that 90% of Maine voters believe the nation is heading down the wrong track. Just 7% say it is moving in the right direction. Those numbers are a bit more negative than the national average. Just 26% of Maine voters say that President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job. More than twice as many—60%--say the President is doing a poor job.

Rasmussen Markets shows that Democrats are currently given a % chance of winning Maine’s Four Electoral College Votes. Four years ago, John Kerry won the state and its four Electoral College Votes by nine points. In Election 2000, Al Gore won the state by five. At the time this poll was released, Washington was rated as “Likely Democratic” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of Maine voters favor a federal gas tax holiday for the summer while 43% are opposed. Just 38% believe the federal government needs more revenue to fund important national programs. Forty-nine percent (49%) disagree and say the federal government has enough money coming in. Those figures are close to the national average.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) are worried that the next President will raise taxes so much that it harms the economy.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) have the opposite concern and worry that the next President will cut taxes so much that it harms important government programs.

By a 62% to 23% margin, Maine voters oppose an increase in the capital gains tax. Fifty-one percent (51%) own at lead $5,000 worth of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

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