New Jersey voters aren’t likely to see a lot of the Presidential candidates between now and Election Day. In fact, Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain is significant enough that Garden State voters may be even be spared the need to endure too many Presidential campaign commercials this year.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in New Jersey finds Obama attracting 55% of the vote while McCain earns just 42%. That’s a slightly bigger cushion than he enjoyed a month ago.
Both presidential candidates are viewed favorably by Garden State voters—60% have a favorable opinion of Obama while 58% say the same about McCain.
As for the running mates, 60% have a favorable opinion of Delaware Senator Joe Biden while 44% say the same about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Forty-two percent (42%) say that Obama made the right choice with Biden while an identical percentage say McCain made the right choice with Palin. A larger number (46%) said that McCain made the wrong choice while only 34% said that of Obama.
Nationally, the race between Obama and McCain remains very close in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Fifty percent (50%) of New Jersey voters say that the economy is the top voting issue of Election 2008. Nineteen percent (19%) say national security is the highest priority.
Rasmussen Markets data gives Obama an % chance of winning New Jersey’s 15 electoral votes this November. George H.W. Bush in 1988 was the last Republican presidential candidate to carry New Jersey where no Republican has won a statewide office since 1997. John Kerry carried New Jersey over President Bush -- 53% to 46% -- in 2004.
Just 26% now say that President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job while 56% rate his job performance as poor.
The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.
Rasmussen Reports has released polls on the presidential race this week for Colorado, Connecticut,Florida, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin, Utah and Delaware. Additional state poll results will be released at RasmussenReports.com each Monday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Tuesday-Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll is released each morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Other polling is released at 7:00 a.m., Noon, and 3:00 p.m. Eastern weekdays along with other updates as needed. Premium Members can review full demographic crosstabs for all state polls and get the first look at all Rasmussen Reports polling data. Learn More .
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This telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on September 16, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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New Jersey Trends: McCain vs. Obama |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Date |
McCain |
Obama |
|
11/02/08 |
42% |
57% |
|
42% |
50% |
|
|
42% |
55% |
|
|
40% |
48% |
|
|
39% |
44% |
|
|
39% |
48% |
|
|
46% |
45% |
|
|
45% |
43% |
|
|
Favorable Ratings for Presidential Candidates in New Jersey |
||
|---|---|---|
|
McCain |
Obama |
|
|
Very Favorable |
27% |
45% |
|
Somewhat Favorable |
26% |
18% |
|
Somewhat Unfavorable |
20% |
11% |
|
Very Unfavorable |
24% |
25% |
|
Not Sure |
3% |
1% |
|
Rasmussen Reports - Electoral College Balance of Power Summary |
|
|---|---|
|
160 |
|
|
260 |
|
|
118 |
|
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
