22.10
Obama cushions lead over McCain in state
Muhammad Rozif Abdulloh
When it comes to balancing the budget, lowering taxes and achieving American independence from foreign oil, Michigan voters have a healthy skepticism on whether Barack Obama would fulfill his campaign promises in his first term.
But it hasn’t cost him their support.
Obama leads Republican John McCain among Michiganders who say they are certain to vote, 53%-37%, with two days left in the campaign, according to the Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll.
Significant numbers of voters say Obama has won them over with his judgment and how he makes them feel about America’s future.
And if voters are skeptical about Obama’s ability to deliver on some promises, they share the same concerns about McCain — while Obama continues to get a bump from supporters who think he’d be best able to address the nation’s economic troubles.
He also gets high marks from his supporters as being likely to reform health care.
“It’s time to get ourselves out of some messes,” said Martha Aldrich, a 64-year-old Dearborn resident who usually votes Republican but is backing Obama. Of Obama, she added, “He’s going to be a great president because he’s really concerned about the American people.”
The poll of 616 likely Michigan voters was conducted Tuesday through Friday by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
It shows Obama building on what was a 13-point lead in Michigan in late September.
Shortly after that poll, McCain decamped from Michigan, essentially conceding the state to Obama. Neither has visited since. Until then, Michigan was widely seen as a battleground state, offering McCain a shot at picking up a state that has backed Democratic candidates for president in the last four elections.
The latest poll shows Obama has built leads over McCain in every part of the state except the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula, where the Arizona senator has an edge. Obama also leads among every age bracket, holds a 48%-to-37% edge among the key voting bloc of self-described independent voters, and is in a virtual dead heat among white voters.
His supporters see him as a force for great — and positive — change. A majority of his supporters expect sweeping, positive changes on everything from the Iraq war to making financial institutions more stable to job growth to foreign relations.
Meanwhile, McCain supporters seem more pessimistic, with fewer than half of them believing there will be major positive changes in U.S. relations with its enemies or the stability of financial institutions rocked by the global credit crisis.
His supporters also aren’t hopeful they will see major positive changes to their taxes compared with Obama’s backers. Forty-three percent of Obama supporters say he will probably lower taxes, 23% say he probably won’t be able to. For McCain, 27% of his supporters say he will probably lower taxes, 47% say he probably won’t.
Most Obama supporters say they believe he would probably reform health care; a majority of McCain’s supporters say their candidate would be unlikely to reform health care — even though both have announced major plans to do so.
There also were indications that the tone that the hotly contested campaign has taken is working against McCain, with more than three-quarters of Obama supporters calling it a reason for their decision to back Obama, the junior senator from Illinois.
There were bright spots for McCain.
For instance, he holds a 49%-41% edge in metro Detroit outside of Wayne County — but inside Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Obama leads 74%-20%, easily cancelling out McCain’s advantage in the rest of the region.
McCain also leads easily among white men and within the margin of error among Catholic and upper income voters. The pool of voters who are not even leaning toward a candidate is just 7%, and 7% of those who chose a candidate said they could still change their decision.
While the economy has worked to Obama’s advantage, there are those who feel McCain is the better pick on that topic, too.
Nicole Soucie, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mother of four who lives in the Grand Rapids suburb of Jenison, said she disagrees with Obama’s plan to tax higher wage earners. “They work for the American dream but I feel in a sense they get punished for it,” she said.
Patrick Smith, a 38-year-old mechanical engineer from White Lake Township, said his support of McCain is more “a vote against Obama and his lack of defense of the unborn,” but it still scores for the Republican — who will be looking to pick up support from evangelicals and social conservatives on Election Day.
McCain leads 55%-35% among evangelicals in Michigan.
Meanwhile, for all the optimism among Obama supporters, there are worries, too — concerns the nation may not be ready to elect a black president and, if it does, what could happen.
Harold Luke, 55, of Detroit is at home on disability. He says the possible election of a fellow black man makes him proud yet anxious for his safety.
But he thinks Obama would do well.
“He knows,” Luke said, “everybody is watching him and waiting for him to screw up.”
But it hasn’t cost him their support.
Obama leads Republican John McCain among Michiganders who say they are certain to vote, 53%-37%, with two days left in the campaign, according to the Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll.
Significant numbers of voters say Obama has won them over with his judgment and how he makes them feel about America’s future.
And if voters are skeptical about Obama’s ability to deliver on some promises, they share the same concerns about McCain — while Obama continues to get a bump from supporters who think he’d be best able to address the nation’s economic troubles.
He also gets high marks from his supporters as being likely to reform health care.
“It’s time to get ourselves out of some messes,” said Martha Aldrich, a 64-year-old Dearborn resident who usually votes Republican but is backing Obama. Of Obama, she added, “He’s going to be a great president because he’s really concerned about the American people.”
The poll of 616 likely Michigan voters was conducted Tuesday through Friday by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
It shows Obama building on what was a 13-point lead in Michigan in late September.
Shortly after that poll, McCain decamped from Michigan, essentially conceding the state to Obama. Neither has visited since. Until then, Michigan was widely seen as a battleground state, offering McCain a shot at picking up a state that has backed Democratic candidates for president in the last four elections.
The latest poll shows Obama has built leads over McCain in every part of the state except the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula, where the Arizona senator has an edge. Obama also leads among every age bracket, holds a 48%-to-37% edge among the key voting bloc of self-described independent voters, and is in a virtual dead heat among white voters.
His supporters see him as a force for great — and positive — change. A majority of his supporters expect sweeping, positive changes on everything from the Iraq war to making financial institutions more stable to job growth to foreign relations.
Meanwhile, McCain supporters seem more pessimistic, with fewer than half of them believing there will be major positive changes in U.S. relations with its enemies or the stability of financial institutions rocked by the global credit crisis.
His supporters also aren’t hopeful they will see major positive changes to their taxes compared with Obama’s backers. Forty-three percent of Obama supporters say he will probably lower taxes, 23% say he probably won’t be able to. For McCain, 27% of his supporters say he will probably lower taxes, 47% say he probably won’t.
Most Obama supporters say they believe he would probably reform health care; a majority of McCain’s supporters say their candidate would be unlikely to reform health care — even though both have announced major plans to do so.
There also were indications that the tone that the hotly contested campaign has taken is working against McCain, with more than three-quarters of Obama supporters calling it a reason for their decision to back Obama, the junior senator from Illinois.
There were bright spots for McCain.
For instance, he holds a 49%-41% edge in metro Detroit outside of Wayne County — but inside Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Obama leads 74%-20%, easily cancelling out McCain’s advantage in the rest of the region.
McCain also leads easily among white men and within the margin of error among Catholic and upper income voters. The pool of voters who are not even leaning toward a candidate is just 7%, and 7% of those who chose a candidate said they could still change their decision.
While the economy has worked to Obama’s advantage, there are those who feel McCain is the better pick on that topic, too.
Nicole Soucie, a 35-year-old stay-at-home mother of four who lives in the Grand Rapids suburb of Jenison, said she disagrees with Obama’s plan to tax higher wage earners. “They work for the American dream but I feel in a sense they get punished for it,” she said.
Patrick Smith, a 38-year-old mechanical engineer from White Lake Township, said his support of McCain is more “a vote against Obama and his lack of defense of the unborn,” but it still scores for the Republican — who will be looking to pick up support from evangelicals and social conservatives on Election Day.
McCain leads 55%-35% among evangelicals in Michigan.
Meanwhile, for all the optimism among Obama supporters, there are worries, too — concerns the nation may not be ready to elect a black president and, if it does, what could happen.
Harold Luke, 55, of Detroit is at home on disability. He says the possible election of a fellow black man makes him proud yet anxious for his safety.
But he thinks Obama would do well.
“He knows,” Luke said, “everybody is watching him and waiting for him to screw up.”
