Wednesday, June 11, 2008

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Barack Obama has jumped far ahead of John McCain in Washington, but most voters there don’t want Hillary Clinton as his running mate, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey has found.

Obama who led McCain 51% to 40% a month ago has opened up an 18% lead in the state. Fifty-three percent (53%) of likely Washington voters now support the Democrat as opposed to 35% who back his Republican opponent.

Five percent (5%) favor a third-party candidate, and 7% are undecided.

In the survey taken Monday night, the first since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, voters by a sizable margin (52% to 31%) do not want him to choose Mrs. Clinton as his running mate. However, 48% of Democrats would like to see the former First Lady on the ticket. Nationally, slightly over half of Democrats want Mrs. Clinton on the ticket.

Washington, with 11 Electoral College votes, has gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1988 and John Kerry carried the state over President Bush 53% to 46% in 2004.

Nationally, over the past week, Obama has taken a modest lead over McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking.

While Obama has the support of 81% of Democrats, down slightly (2%) from last month, McCain has experienced a precipitous drop in Republican support. Last month 87% of Washington Republicans backed his candidacy; now only 75% of GOP voters do, with 18% saying they support Obama.

Obama’s support among unaffiliated voters also has increased dramatically. His 7% lead of last month is now 13%, with 47% of unaffiliated voters for Obama versus 34% for McCain.

The Democrat tops his GOP opponent among men (52% to 38%) and women (54% to 33%). He also leads in every economic and age group, most dramatically in those age 18-29 (74% to 14%).

McCain’s only edge continues to be among those who call themselves conservatives and regular churchgoers.

Sixty percent (60%) of Washington voters view Obama favorably, up 3% from last month, while 54% feel the same about McCain who rated 49% in May.

Despite Obama’s widening lead in the state, 40% of voters believe he is too inexperienced to be president, but 48% disagree. Only 29% think McCain is too old for the job, with 62% saying no. Those figures are similar to the national average.

Getting the troops home from Iraq (61%) is important to far Washington voters than winning the war (33%).

If McCain is elected, only 32% believe that homecoming is likely to take place by the end of his first term, while 64% think it is unlikely. By contrast, 71% say Obama will bring the troops home within four years, and only 25% disagree.

Compounding McCain’s growing problems in the state are President Bush’s continuing low approval ratings. Fifty-four percent (54%) think the president is doing a poor job; only 29% give him good or excellent marks.

Washington voters, like those in other states, are highly skeptical of their government. Sixty-five percent (65%) say the federal government itself has become a special interest group; 17% disagree and 18% are undecided.

Seventy-one percent (71%) do not believe government represents the will of the people; 13% say it does, while 16% are undecided.

Still, 73% are confident that the votes in their state will be accurately counted. Only 39% believe that elections are fair to voters, however, but 40% disagree and 21% are undecided.

Rasmussen Markets shows that Democrats are currently given a % chance of winning Washington in November. With the release of this poll, Washington has shifted from “Likely Democratic” to “Safely Democratic” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power.

While Obama’s lead has widened in the state, Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire’s climb in the polls against.

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