Thursday, October 02, 2008

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New Mexico has been near the top of the list of “Red States” that Democrats hoped to “Turn Blue” in Election 2008 and Barack Obama is poised to do so with just over a month to go until Election Day.

While John McCain was up by two points in this key southwestern state a month ago, Obama now has a 49% to 44% lead in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state.

Obama is viewed favorably by 53% of New Mexico voters, McCain by 47%.

As for the running mates, Delaware Senator Joe Biden gets positive reviews from 50% while 46% say the same about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Polling released today also shows that Democrat Tom Udall leads Republican Steve Pearce in New Mexico’s U.S. Senate race.

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McCain and Obama are essentially even among White Voters while the Democrat has a seventeen-point lead among Hispanic voters. Obama leads by fifteen among women but trails by eight among men (full demographic crosstabs available for Premium Members).

Just 9% of New Mexico voters rate the economy as good or excellent while 57% say the economy today is poor. Only 5% believe it is getting better while 80% say it is getting worse.

The economy is the top voting issue in New Mexico as it is across the nation. Forty-eight percent (48%) trust Obama more that McCain on this issue while 43% have the opposite view. When it comes to national security issues, McCain is trusted more.

Nationally, Obama has recently opened a modest but stable lead over McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that Obama is currently given an % chance of winning New Mexico’s Five Electoral College votes this fall. President Bush won the state by 6,000 votes out of nearly 750,000 in Election 2004. With release of this poll, New Mexico moves from “Toss-Up” to “Leans Democratic” 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 right hand corner of this article.

Today, Rasmussen Reports released new poll results for North Carolina,New Mexico, Montana, Kentucky and Nebraska.

Last night, results were released from Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Other polling has recently been released for Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Demographic crosstabs for all state polling are available for Premium Members. Learn More.

While President Bush carried New Mexico four years ago, just 31% now say he is doing a good or excellent job. Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

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