Thursday, September 18, 2008 Email to a Friend
Howard Dean’s home state is a sure thing for Barack Obama come November, according to the first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in Vermont.

Obama leads his Republican opponent, John McCain, 60% to 36% (see crosstabs).

Nine out of 10 members of each party support their respective nominees, but unaffiliated voters back Obama 66% to 28%.

Forty-five percent (45%) of Vermont voters have a Very Favorable opinion of Obama. Just half that number feel that way about McCain. Twenty-seven percent (27%) have a Very Unfavorable view of the Republican versus 20% who say that of Obama.

Even Sarah Palin’s addition to the GOP ticket which has been a plus in most of the country doesn’t help in Vermont. Forty-one percent (41%) have a Very Unfavorable view of Palin, while just 17% say that of Obama’s running mate Joseph Biden.

Ffity percent (50%) say McCain’s selection of Palin was not a good choice, but nearly as many (48%) think Biden was a good pick. While 63% describe Palin as Very Conservative, a plurality of voters (39%) say Biden is a moderate.

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McCain and Obama remain very close in both the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and Electoral College projections.

Democratic presidential candidates have carried Vermont in every election since 1992. John Kerry won the state by 20 percentage points over President Bush in 2004. Dean, who is presently the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of Vermont voters rate Bush’s job performance as poor, which perhaps explains why it is the one state he has never visited. Just 22% think he is doing a good or excellent job.

As in other states, a plurality of voters (43%) rate economic issues as the most important in this election. While national security is generally in second place throughout the county, here it is tied with domestic issues at 18%.

Two-thirds (67%) say they will be voting enthusiastically for their candidate in November, but 26% say they will be voting primarily against the other candidate.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that Democrats are currently given a 97.0% chance of winning Vermont’s three Electoral College votes in November. At the time this poll was released, Vermont was rated “Safe 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.
Rasmussen Reports has released polls on the presidential race this week for Colorado, Florida, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin, Utah and Delaware. Results from Connecticut and Georgia will be released later today. Additional state poll results will be released at RasmussenReports.com each Monday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Tuesday-Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll is released each morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Other polling is released at 7:00 a.m., Noon, and 3:00 p.m. Eastern weekdays along with other updates as needed. Premium Members can review full demographic crosstabs for all state polls and get the first look at all Rasmussen Reports polling data. Learn More.