Sunday, September 21, 2008

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John McCain has held onto a five-point lead over Barack Obama in Florida for the second straight week. The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds McCain on top 51% to 46%.

McCain has led in nine out of the 11 polls conducted this year. Three weeks ago the candidates were tied at 48% each.

Both nationally and in Florida, polling suggests the race for the White House today is very similar to the final results for Election 2004. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows McCain with a very modest lead nationally, and his five-point edge in Florida matches President Bush’s margin of victory in the state four years ago.

Rasmussen Reports and Fox News Channel will jointly release a series of battleground state polls every Monday night at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. Other polls released tonight are from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. See overview of all polling released this week.

Rasmussen Reports will release other state polling on the presidential race daily at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll follows the race on a national basis and is updated every morning at 9:30 Eastern. (Sign up for a free daily e-mail update).

McCain is viewed favorably by 55% of Florida voters and unfavorably by 45%. Obama’s numbers are 50% favorable, 48% unfavorable.

The GOP nominee has a solid 56% to 40% edge among unaffiliated voters in the Sunshine State. He also leads 53% to 44% among men and 51% to 47% among women.

Voters trust McCain more than his opponent by a 52% to 43% margin. However, while over a third (34%) says they would be extremely comfortable with Obama as president, just 28% say that of McCain. Still, more voters (45%) are not at all comfortable with Obama in the White House as opposed to just 34% who feel that way about the Republican.

As for their running mates, 29% say they would be extremely comfortable with Democrat Joseph Biden as vice president, and 32% say that of Republican Sarah Palin. While 42% say they would not be at all comfortable with Palin as vice president, 45% say that of Biden.

As in many other states, voters are evenly divided over who they trust more on the struggling economy. In Florida, 48% say they trust McCain more, while 47% say they trust Obama more. A separate Rasmussen national poll released last week found that most voters are not yet convinced that either candidate can handle the economic crisis.

On national security and the War on Terror, voters in Florida trust McCain more by a 53% to 44% margin, an issue the GOP nominee usually performs well on.

If faced with life’s toughest decision, 52% of voters say they would ask McCain for advice, while 40% would turn to Obama.

Rasmussen Markets data currently gives McCain a % chance of winning Florida’s 27 Electoral College votes in November. At the time this poll was released, Florida was rated as “Leans Republican” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator. NOTE: Factors other than the latest Rasmussen Reports poll impact the Balance of Power ratings. The current status is indicated on the table in the upper righthand corner of this article.

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President George W. Bush earns good or excellent ratings from 34% of Florida voters, while 50% say the president is doing a poor job.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is rated good or excellent by 53% of voters, versus only 16% say he is doing a poor job.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.