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McCain Trusted More on Taxes and Economy
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After several weeks of John McCain’s campaign attacks on Barack Obama’s tax plan and idea of “spreading the wealth around”, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds voters trust McCain more than Obama on taxes, 47% to 45%.

Two weeks ago, Obama had a one point-advantage on the issue of taxes and a month ago, he had a three-point edge. The last time McCain had the advantage on this issue was September 14, just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers started the meltdown on Wall Street (see trends).

Men favor McCain by a 51% to 43% margin when it comes to taxes, while women still trust Obama more, 48% to 43% (see crosstabs).

Voters now trust Obama overall on six out of ten electoral issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. Two weeks ago, the Democrat holding the edge on seven issues. A month ago, Obama had the advantage on every issue.

McCain also has gained ground as the candidate to trust on economic issues. Forty-eight percent (48%) now trust the Republican hopeful more than the Democrat while 47% hold the opposite view. This is the first time McCain has led on the issue that has hurt his campaign since September 17. One month ago, Obama held a nine-point advantage when it came to economic issues.

The candidates are now tied on the issue of the War in Iraq, with each man trusted more than the other by 47% of voters. Earlier in the year, McCain held solid leads on the issue. However, two-weeks ago, Obama had a one-point edge. Men trust McCain more than Obama when it comes to Iraq, while women trust Obama.

Obama continues to hold solid advantages on his party’s strong points, such as education, health care and environmental issues.

A summary of these results and other key stats can be found on the By the Numbers page which is updated daily.

McCain also passed Obama on Social Security for the first time since early August. Voters now trust the GOP candidate more by a 45% to 44% margin. In the last poll, Obama outperformed the Republican 46% to 43%.

McCain holds the advantage on abortion for the second straight poll. Voters trust the Republican more, 46% to 40%. Men favor McCain more by 11 percentage points, while women are fairly evenly divided, favoring McCain by a 44% to 43% margin.

McCain is certainly outperforming the Republican Party when it comes to voter trust. Generically, Democrats are trusted more than Republicans on all ten issues tracked regularly by Rasmussen Reports.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs on Trust on Issues I and Trust on Issues II are available for Premium Members only.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports Election Edge™ Premium Service offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage available anywhere.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
October 25-26, 2008

Issue

Obama

McCain

War in Iraq

47%

47%

Immigration

44%

43%

Environment

55%

38%

Balance Fed. Budget

50%

41%

Trade Agreements

50%

41%

Taxes

45%

47%

Social Security

44%

45%

Healthcare

51%

41%

Education

49%

40%

Abortion

40%

46%

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