The Obama factor: Virginia edition

WaPo ^ | 10/27/09

[freespirited]

Virginia Democrats hope President Obama's campaign stop today in Norfolk will boost Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds' standing, but most in a new Washington Post poll say the president will not affect their vote.

Seven in 10 say Obama is not a factor in their choice. And among those who say they'll take him into account, 14% say their vote will be to express support for Obama, 15% to indicate opposition.

The ongoing debate in Washington over health care also splits the electorate. A narrow majority (53%) opposes the legislation being developed - while 43% favor it. Virginians are more evenly split on the necessity of reform: 48% say it's needed to control costs and expand coverage while about the same figure (49%) say it will do more harm than good.

Obama maintains majority approval in this poll, with 54 percent of likely voters and 57 percent of registered voters giving him the thumbs up on handling his job. ...

For Northern Virginians and those in the southeastern corner of the state, Obama is a bit more of a positive influence than a negative one (16 percent say their vote in part will be to support him vs. 10 percent opposition in NoVa, 18 to 13 percent in the southeast), while more in the rest of the state see the gubernatorial campaign as a chance to express opposition to Obama (22 percent to voice opposition vs. 11 percent support in the west and 18 to 12 percent in the Richmond area).

Among whites, those who say their vote is a reflection on Obama's time in office tilt decidedly negative (18 percent opposition, 8 percent support), while among blacks, nearly four in 10 say they'll vote to show their support for Obama (37 percent) and just 2 percent to express opposition.

[freespirited]

Post.

[indthkr]

Washington Compost "CurrentTruth^TM" bump for later

[WayneS]

Correct.

Obama beat McCain by about 4% of the popular vote and they called it a “mandate”, which, I’m led to believe, is just shy of a “landslide”.