McCain vs Obama Poll

A recent poll conducted by Survey USA shows some exciting news.
The poll questioned registered voters in Massachusetts. Find it here: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollPrint.aspx?g=d328d259-7c45-49ff-a14e-c14c182cb9c7&d=0

First of all, with Barack Obama being the likely Democrat nominee, John McCain trails Obama 46% to 48%; with a +/- 4.3% margin of error. This is devastating that a Republican nominee could be in a dead heat in the bluest state.

Second, it becomes important to look at the party affiliation. Massachusetts is about 50% unenrolled voters. The poll concluded that 54% of unenrolled voters would vote for John McCain over Obama.

When it comes to the major issues, by wide margins the economy is the most important issue to voters. However, John McCain is leading when it comes to this issue. In fact, except for the environment, health, and Iraq John McCain leads every issue by wide margins.

One more issue that I noticed in this poll: SurveyUSA separated the issues of Iraq and Terrorism. Now I am one that believes they are one in the same, but it is important to notice that voters who thought Iraq was a more important voted for Obama and likewise those who thought Terrorism was more important voted for McCain.

On a completely irrelevant (but humorous) note, compare how the votes change based race when comparing McCain versus Obama and McCain versus Clinton. Barack Obama loses 10% of the black vote that Clinton carried and 53% of the Hispanic vote.

So what does all this mean for us? Maybe nothing. The election is still 6 and half months away which might as well be next year in election terms. So much can, and will, happen between now and the general election. However, with a Zogby poll showing that Candidate Jeff Beatty in a dead heat with John Kerry (http://www.telegram.com/article/20070809/NEWS/708090792/1008), and John McCain tied with Barack Obama, it does give one hope for our commonwealth.