Presidential race fit to be tied in Stark (County Ohio)

contintued from the article above:

It’s an election where there is no middle ground, they say. You either like the job the president has done in his first term, or you don’t. These two neighbors are you. They sum up the way you feel about this year’s presidential race with just more than four months left until the election.

Kerry and Bush are almost in a dead heat in Stark County, according to a poll conducted for The Repository last week by Mason-Dixon Polling Research Inc.

President Bush held a slim lead, 42 percent to 41 percent, in the poll of likely voters. Although the Kerry and Bush sides are clear for many, 14 percent of you still haven’t decided whom you want to elect.

“Those are great numbers, because Gore lost the county by 2,800 votes,” John Kerry said on Friday, after being informed he and Bush were in a dead heat. Kerry spoke on his trip through Stark County, shortly before visiting the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“We’re marching ahead. We’re confident.”

The percentage of undecided voters is probably even higher than 14 percent, said William Cunion, a political science professor at Mount Union College. He said some poll respondents tend to pick one candidate or another, even if they don’t feel strongly about him at this point.

The 62-year-old Abrahamson, a retired field manager for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., participated in the poll. He’s trying to sell his Abbington Avenue NW home for $439,000. He and his wife plan to buy a smaller place — he needs cash to pay a 20 percent share of medical bills for an upcoming kidney transplant.

“I grew up an Iowa farmboy,” he said. “We should always be responsible for ourselves; don’t expect help. That’s what I was always taught.”

For Abrahamson, character counts. He wants his president to be a man of action, not words. He said Kerry talks too much without saying anything. The best way to fight is to meet a problem head-on.

“Bush needs to stick even more to his guns and not care if people like him,” he said.

From Arbee4bush:

This is an article in today's Canton Rep, two days after Kerry's campaign stop in Stark County (Massillon, OH) There are some interesting polls listed with the article that I don't know how to put on the thread. Anyone help? I will send you the username and password to the paper to access the information. Thanks

If Bush and Kerry are tied in Stark County then Kerry is in one heap of trouble in Ohio.

Stark County was the home of blue color union members who have voted the straight Democratic ticket since 1932. Massilon is the Stark County county seat and home to great football teams and great coaches.

Kerry talks about the 250 thousand Ohioans who have lost their jobs. The steel plant in Massilon is a lonely ghost. The reminder of prosperous industrial days is a stone church steeple on the north side of downtown Massilon. It make of light colored stone, but it was stained dark black from generations of smoke from the foundry fairnesses. You can plainly see it in the clear crisp air no longer polluted by the foundry. Kerry is talking about places like Massilon when he talks about the quarter million jobs lost in Ohio. The lost jobs are why Kerry was campaigning there last week. Kerry has to win places like Stark county. It appears from this poll he will not get the typical Democrats share of stark county votes.

I expect Kerry to win Stark Co. But not by the margin required for a Democrat to win the state.

Most likely the laid off Democrats have moved to other states .... where the jobs are. What this poll is inadvertently pointing out is there are 250 thousand fewer Democrat voters in Ohio. The Northern part of Stark Co. has a large number of new very upscale homes and an influx of new residents. Many of these homes in the one to two million dollar range. There are few if any Democrats living there.

interesting:

MORE POLL RESULTS AT A GLANCE

A collection of facts and figures from a poll conducted Monday and Tuesday in Stark County by Mason-Dixon Polling Research:

Ralph Nader isn’t well-liked. The presidential candidate, who’s not yet officially on the ballot in Ohio, received only a 9 percent favorable rating in the poll. And 47 percent of those polled said they recognized his name, but didn’t like him.

Sen. John Kerry should be one of the most famous men in America right now. However, 1 percent of likely voters polled didn’t recognize his name.

Education is often a big issue for voters in local and state elections. But it’s not an issue in the presidential race — only 1 percent of those polled said it will influence their vote.

Although the county unemployment rate is about 7.5 percent, many more than that are concerned about the safety of their jobs. Twenty-seven percent said they’re worried a member of their household would lose a job, or not be able to find work.

Women are more receptive than men to legalizing same-sex marriage or civil unions. On civil unions, 32 percent of women support them, compared with 22 percent of men. On gay marriages, 24 percent of women support them, compared with 16 percent of men.

The reason Bush supporters will vote for the president: 47 percent said character and integrity. The same can’t be said of Kerry supporters. Only 12 percent said character and integrity will be their top reason for voting for the senator.

County residents overwhelmingly believe outsourcing of jobs overseas is responsible for lost manufacturing jobs in Ohio. Sixty-three percent blamed outsourcing; the second-most popular cited cause was union contracts (18 percent).

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