It’s not much of a race in Kansas according to today’s Rasmussen Reports poll. Senator McCain leads Senator Obama by 20 points, 58% to 38%, in one of the most reliably Republican states in the Union.
John McCain has jumped back to a 20-point lead over Barack Obama in the Republican stronghold of Kansas. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds the GOP candidate ahead 58% to 38%.
Last month, McCain was ahead 52% to 37%, after leading by 20 in July. The race was closest back in June, when Obama pulled to within 10 points after clinching the Democratic nomination.
This month, McCain leads 58% to 34% among unaffiliated voters in Kansas. He also has a 62% to 34% advantage among men and a 55% to 41% edge among women.
McCain is viewed favorably by 68% and unfavorably by 31%. Obama’s ratings are 44% favorable, 53% unfavorable.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is viewed favorably by 60% and unfavorably by 36%. Her Democratic counterpart, Joseph Biden, is regarded favorably by 46%, but slightly more (48%) view him unfavorably. Half of Kansas voters (51%) consider Palin to be Very Conservative politically, while 30% say Biden is at least somewhat liberal.
Kansas voters think McCain made the right choice with Palin by a 57% to 33% margin, but they’re split more evenly over Obama’s selection of Biden. While 37% think Biden was the right pick, 38% disagree, and 25% are not sure. One in four Democrats (25%) in Kansas think Biden was the wrong choice for Obama, while just 13% of Republicans say the same about Palin.
Most voters (61%) say they will be voting with enthusiasm for their candidate, while 30% say they will vote primarily against the opposing candidate. Sixty percent (60%) of McCain supporters say they will vote enthusiastically for their candidate, and 68% of Obama supporters say the same.
Voters in Kansas, unlike most of the country, remain fairly evenly divided on President Bush’s job performance. While 41% say he is doing a good or excellent job, 37% say he is doing a poor job.
Takeaways
Kansas has six Electoral College votes. The state has gone GOP in the last ten Presidential elections. The state hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson won in a landslide. In 2004, George Bush won by 62% to 37% over John Kerry. Kansas’ population growth has been slower than the nation’s as a whole in recent decades, as population trends have been away from rural locations to more urban centers. As a result, the state has lost electoral influence: From a peak of 10 electoral votes in the early part of the 20th century, the state has been reduced to six today.