Hey Hussein.... Germans can't vote!


McCain takes lead in Colorado, poll shows
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 09:22 a.m., July 24, 2008
Updated 11:51 a.m., July 24, 2008

John McCain is now winning among likely Colorado voters, helped by a surge of sentiment blaming Democrats for the soaring price of gas, new poll results show.

The Quinnipiac University polls shows McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, the top choice among 46 percent of likely Colorado voters. Democrat Barack Obama is the top choice among 44 percent of likely voters.

A month ago, Obama held a 49-44 percent lead over McCain in the same poll.

And in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Bob Schaffer has closed the gap against Democrat Mark Udall. Udall was ahead a month ago by 10 percentage points, but the latest numbers show a dead heat — 44 to 44.

The poll, conducted for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, zeroes in on key battleground states — Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin — where the presidential contest is expected to be very close.

Besides surging ahead in Colorado, McCain made a big move in Minnesota and narrowed large Obama leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, the poll found.

Pollsters asked 1,425 likely Colorado voters their views between July 14 and 22. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percent.

Coloradans are evenly divided on which presidential candidate has the best energy policy. But by a 50 percent to 39 percent margin, voters here say energy policy is more important than the policy on the war in Iraq when assessing which candidate should get the vote.

Democrats were winning on the energy issue as recently as April -- convincing voters that their recipe for alternative fuels, wind and solar energy, was the best solution for America's future, public opinion guru Floyd Ciruli said this morning.

"Then it shifted in April, when gasoline hit $4 a gallon," said Ciruli, who heads Ciruli & Associates of Denver.

Suddenly, the pain at the gas pump was so acute that most voters moved away from the idealistic view of an American energy diet and looked for who to blame for the high prices, he said.

They chose the Democrats, who've opposed drilling off shore and in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, in the name of environmental sustainability.

Voters in each of the four battleground states support off-shore drilling and drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge — activities that McCain supports but Obama opposes. In Colorado, the margin is 52 percent to 44 percent.

One in 10 of those polled said they have changed their minds and now favor drilling because of the jump in energy prices.

"Sen. Barack Obama's post-primary bubble hasn't burst, but it is leaking a bit," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "It's been a good month for Sen. John McCain. His movement in these key states, not large except for Minnesota, jibes with the tightening we are seeing in the national polls.

There has been a shift among quite a few Americans from blaming the administration for everything related to the economy to focusing on one particular issue -- the price of fuel, "and blaming the Democrats for being against production," Ciruli said. "That has put the Republicans back in the game," both in the presidential race and the US Senate race in Colorado.

Unaffiliated voters could hold the key in Colorado.

While 75 percent of Colorado Republicans support drilling for new oil in Alaska, and 70 percent of Democrats oppose it, unaffiliated voters are much more evenly split.

When asked that question, 52 percent of unaffiliated voters support the ANWR drilling, while 44 percent oppose it. Colorado independents have similar sentiments about off-shore drilling.

Overall, unaffiliated voters in Colorado support Obama over McCain by a 47 percent to 39 percent margin.

A month ago, Obama's lead among Colorado independents was just a bit stronger, 51 percent to 39 percent.

Obama leads among women in Colorado, 50 percent to 39 percent, while men back McCain 55 percent to 37 percent.

McCain leads among voters older than 55 here, while Obama gets the majority of the younger vote.

Among Colorado college graduates, Obama leads by 2 percentage points, while McCain has a large lead among Coloradans who don't have a college degree.

McCain has a 10-point lead among white voters in Colorado, while Obama has a 28-point lead among Hispanics.

"The good news for McCain is that he has improved his standing in Colorado and Michigan, two states that are critical to each man's strategy," Brown added.

Obama very much wants to make a break through in the Rocky Mountain states, traditional Republican strongholds, and Colorado seems to be the key, Brown said.

Just 31 percent of the Coloradans polled say they approve of the job President Bush is doing — while 62 percent disapprove. That 31 percent, though, is higher than the marks Bush got in the other battleground states, where his approval ratings are in the 20s.

Two-thirds of the Coloradans polled said they're holding steady despite the rocky economy. Among Republicans here who aren't holding steady, more said they were doing better than said they were falling behind.

By contrast, among Colorado Democrats not holding steady, 25 percent said they are falling behind, while only 13 percent said they are getting ahead.

Those polled in Colorado said Cindy McCain better fits their idea of a First Lady than Michelle Obama — by a 37 percent to 27 percent margin, with a lot of people not expressing an opinion.

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2897

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Colorado really really really likes their guns, tanks, and missiles. I couldn't ever seriously see them going for Barack.

I need to move to Colorado, Illinois is way to limp wristed.

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Liberals believe it is okay to kill babies, but not terrorists.

democrats believe it is okay to taser a 10 year old if this stance will get their guy elected.

Not ready for prime time.

But wait, JLB. In the Ohio thread you said to ignore Quinnipac because it's a "college poll." You said we should listen to Rasmussen, the "most accurate" poll there is.

And the latest Rasmussen poll Shows Obama winning in Colorado.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...ntial_election

Please explain. Surely you're not employing a double standard -- or no standard at all.

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Man up.

I like double standards when they work in my favor.

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Liberals believe it is okay to kill babies, but not terrorists.

democrats believe it is okay to taser a 10 year old if this stance will get their guy elected.

At least you're honest!

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Man up.

No, I said it was the oldest poll in Ohio, nearly a month old.

Now it's the freshest, and it is a left leaning poll, which means McCain is probably even more ahead!

It's the "freshest" by *one day* over the Rasmussen poll showing a 3 to 7 point Obama lead.

On the basis of 24 hours, you're saying we should "go with Quinnipac" over the "most accurate" Rasmussen?

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Man up.

You realize that flies right in the face of the Democrats calims about Colorado..the whole point of having their convention there..and the belief of Obama supproters that he will take the state becasue of its increasing left leaning nature ..right?






I highly doubt Colorado will go for Obama either..even if it does it probably won't matter because by the time we get that far west McCain will have already won.

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McCain/Palin 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"Peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Keep that faith,keep your courage,stick together, stay strong,do not yield,do not flinch,stand up,we're Americans,we'll never surrender they will"
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A