Wednesday, October 01, 2008

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For the third month in a row, John McCain is leading Barack Obama in Texas by nine points, 50% to 41%, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state.

When “leaners” are included, the Republican is ahead 54% to 44%.

Nationally, in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, the race between McCain and Obama remains very close.

This month, McCain is backed by 82% of voters from his own party and 16% of Democrats in Texas. Obama’s support comes from 75% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans. Among unaffiliated voters, McCain has a dominant 51% to 35% lead. McCain leads by a 50% to 41% margin among men and 51% to 41% among women.

McCain is viewed favorably by 62% of voters and unfavorably by 35%. The Democrat’s ratings are 50% favorable, 49% unfavorable.

The survey also found that while 78% of voters in Texas say finding new energy sources is an urgent national need, 63% also feel that way about reducing the amount of energy Americans now consume. Given the choice, however, 64% of Texan voters say finding new sources is more important, while 26% say reducing consumption should be the top priority.

When it comes to campaigns, 61% of voters in Texas believe candidates will break the rules in order to help individuals who contribute money to their campaigns. Just 19% disagree. However, the majority (57%) say media bias is a bigger problem in elections today than campaign contributions. A third (33%) take the opposite view.

President George W. Bush earns good or excellent ratings from 43% of voters in his home state, while 38% say he is doing a poor job. Those ratings are much more flattering than those found on the national level.

The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.

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