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South Dakota: Election 2008 (President)

Election Matchup
Democratic Primary
Vice-President
Candidate Favorability Ratings
Candidate Image
Candidate Issue Handling
Candidate Ideology
Voter Enthusiasm

Election Matchup

Barack Obama (D) vs. John McCain (R) vs. Ralph Nader (I)

Poll	Date	Obama	McCain	Nader	Other	No opinion	Sample	MoE
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	41%	48%	2%	1%	8%	800 LV	± 3.5

Barack Obama (D) vs. John McCain (R)

Poll	Date	Obama	McCain	Other	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen	October 30, 2008	44%	53%	1%	3%	500 LV	± 4.5
Research 2000²	October 22-24, 2008	41%	50%	3%	6%	600 LV	± 4.0
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	41%	48%	3%	8%	800 LV	± 3.5
American Research Group¹	September 19-21, 2008	39%	55%	1%	5%	600 LV	± 4.0
Rasmussen	September 9, 2008	37%	54%	3%	6%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen	July 9, 2008	40%	44%	7%	9%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen	March 4, 2008	38%	48%	7%	6%	500 LV	± 4.5
SurveyUSA	February 26-28, 2008	43%	47%	11%		632 RV	± 4.0

1 "If the general election were being held today between John McCain for president and Sarah Palin for vice president, the Republicans, and Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice president, the Democrats, for whom would you vote - McCain and Palin, Obama and Biden (names rotated), or someone else?"

2 "If the election for President were held today would you vote for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin or another candidate?"

Hillary Clinton (D) vs. John McCain (R)

Poll	Date	Clinton	McCain	Other	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen	March 4, 2008	38%	50%	7%	5%	500 LV	± 4.5
SurveyUSA	February 26-28, 2008	40%	52%	8%		633 RV	± 4.0

Democratic Primary

Democratic Primary: Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama

Poll	Date	Clinton	Obama	No opinion	Sample	MoE
American Research Group¹	May 31 – June 1, 2008	60%	34%	6%	600 LV	± 4.0

"If the 2008 Democratic presidential preference primary were being held today between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for whom would you vote – Clinton or Obama?"

Vice-President

Barack Obama Selection of Joe Biden Right Choice

Poll	Date	Yes	No	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	32%	39%	29%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Barack Obama named Joe Biden to be his Vice Presidential running mate. Was this the right choice for Obama to make?"

John McCain Selection of Sarah Palin Right Choice

Poll	Date	Yes	No	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	59%	31%	10%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "John McCain named Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate. Was this the right choice for McCain to make?"

Obama Selection of Clinton As Vice-Presidential Running Mate

Poll	Date	Yes	No	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	July 9, 2008	34%	46%	20%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Should Barack Obama select Hillary Clinton as his Vice-Presidential running mate?"

Candidate Favorability Ratings

Barack Obama Favorability Rating

Poll	Date	Favorable	Unfavorable	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	October 30, 2008	49%	49%	2%	500 LV	± 4.5
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	42%	39%	19%	800 LV	± 3.5
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	47%	53%	1%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen¹	July 9, 2008	54%	43%	2%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen¹	March 4, 2008	53%	45%	2%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Barack Obama?"

John McCain Favorability Rating

Poll	Date	Favorable	Unfavorable	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	October 30, 2008	64%	34%	3%	500 LV	± 4.5
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	51%	30%	19%	800 LV	± 3.5
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	65%	33%	2%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen¹	July 9, 2008	62%	35%	3%	500 LV	± 4.5
Rasmussen¹	March 4, 2008	61%	36%	3%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of John McCain?"

Joe Biden Favorability Rating

Poll	Date	Favorable	Unfavorable	No opinion	Sample	MoE
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	37%	33%	30%	800 LV	± 3.5
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	41%	52%	6%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Joe Biden?"

Sarah Palin Favorability Rating

Poll	Date	Favorable	Unfavorable	No opinion	Sample	MoE
KELO-TV / Mason-Dixon	October 13-15, 2008	50%	34%	16%	800 LV	± 3.5
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	62%	32%	4%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin?"

Hillary Clinton Favorability Rating

Poll	Date	Favorable	Unfavorable	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	March 4, 2008	46%	51%	3%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Hillary Clinton?"

Candidate Image

John McCain Too Old to Be President

Poll	Date	Yes	No	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	July 9, 2008	26%	68%	6%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Is John McCain too old to be President?"

Barack Obama Too Inexperienced to Be President

Poll	Date	Yes	No	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	July 9, 2008	45%	42%	14%	500 LV	± 4.5

1 "Is Barack Obama too inexperienced to be President?"

Candidate Issue Handling

Candidate Issue Handling (Economy)

Poll	Date	Obama	McCain	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	October 30, 2008	42%	50%	8%	500 LV	± 4.5

"Overall, who do you trust more on economic issues and managing the economy – John McCain or Barack Obama?"

Candidate Issue Handling (National Security Issues)

Poll	Date	Obama	McCain	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	October 30, 2008	37%	57%	6%	500 LV	± 4.5

"Who do you trust more on national security issues such as the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism – John McCain or Barack Obama?"

Candidate Ideology

Joe Biden Political Ideology

Poll	Date	Very conservative	Somewhat conservative	Moderate	Somewhat liberal	Very liberal	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	September 8, 2008	3%	5%	31%	22%	30%	9%	500 LV	± 4.5

"In political terms, is Joe Biden very conservative, somewhat conservative, moderate, somewhat liberal, or very liberal?"

Sarah Palin Political Ideology

Poll	Date	Very conservative	Somewhat conservative	Moderate	Somewhat liberal	Very liberal	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	September 8, 2008	50%	28%	7%	4%	2%	8%	500 LV	± 4.5

"In political terms, is Sarah Palin very conservative, somewhat conservative, moderate, somewhat liberal, or very liberal?"

Voter Enthusiasm

Motivation for Vote Choice

Poll	Date	Voting with enthusiasm for candidate	Voting against other candidate	No opinion	Sample	MoE
Rasmussen¹	September 9, 2008	66%	27%	7%	500 LV	± 4.5

"When you vote for President this year, will you be voting with enthusiasm for your candidate or voting primarily against the other candidate?"