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Toplines - Virginia Presidential Election - October 16, 2008

See Article
Prior Survey
Daily Snapshot

Virginia Survey of 700 Likely Voters
Conducted October 16, 2008
By Rasmussen Reports

1* How do you rate the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President? Excellent, good, fair, or poor?

11% Excellent

21% Good

18% Fair

49% Poor

2% Not sure

2* 2008 Presidential General Election Match-Ups

McCain

44%

Obama

54%

Some Other Candidate

0%

Not sure

1%

3* Favorable Ratings

McCain

Obama

Very favorable

30%

43%

Somewhat favorable

25%

16%

Somewhat unfavorable

21%

11%

Very unfavorable

23%

29%

Not sure

1%

0%

4* In terms of how you will vote for President, are you primarily interested in National Security issues such as the War with Iraq and the War on Terror, Economic issues such as jobs and economic growth, Domestic Issues like Social Security and Health Care, Cultural issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, or Fiscal issues such as taxes and government spending?

20% National Security Issues

48% Economic Issues

12% Domestic Issues

3% Cultural Issues

11% Fiscal Issues

5% Not sure

5* Do you agree or disagree with the Economic Rescue Plan passed by Congress recently?

29% Agree

46% Disagree

25% Not sure

6* Will the rescue plan help the economy, hurt the economy or have no impact on the economy?

38% Help

22% Hurt

27% No impact

13% Not sure

7* Given current economic conditions, what tax policy would be best to help spur economic growth? Would it be better to have higher taxes, lower taxes, or the same level of taxes?

16% Higher

46% Lower

29% Keep the same

8% Not sure

8* Suppose taxes were increased on people who make more than $250,000 a year. Would raising taxes for people who make more than $250,000 a year be good for the economy, bad for the economy, or have no impact on the economy?

51% Good for the economy

32% Bad

13% No impact

4% Not sure

9* When people sell stocks, bonds, and other assets for a profit, they pay a capital gains tax. Would raising the capital gains tax be good for the economy, bad for the economy, or have no impact on the economy?

25% Good for the economy

52% Bad

13% No impact

9% Not sure

10* Is this year’s Presidential election more positive than most, more negative than most, or about the same as most recent elections?

12% More positive

35% More negative

52% About the same
1% Not sure

11* Is it possible for a candidate to win an election without criticizing his opponent?

40% Yes
50% No

11% Not sure

12* Has Barack Obama’s campaign been generally positive, generally negative, or somewhere in between?

43% Generally positive
28% Generally negative

28% Somewhere in between

1% Not sure

13* Has John McCain’s campaign been generally positive, generally negative, or somewhere in between?

15% Generally positive
54% Generally negative

32% Somewhere in between

0% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence