RK ARCHIVE - The Single Biggest Issue Facing Virginia Is...

*The single biggest issue facing Virginia is transportation (21%), followed by the economy/jobs (13%), education (8%), illegal immigration (7%) and taxes (7%).

*52% of Virginians believe the state is headed in the right direction, with 43% feeling that it is on the "wrong track."

*Virginians are evenly split on the General Assembly, with 44% saying they approve of the job it's doing and 44% disapproving. However, of "likely voters," only 43% approve of the General Assembly, with 53% saying they disapprove.

*Among "likely voters," 40% approve of the job Republicans in the state legislature are doing, while 56% disapprove (minus 16 points). Numbers for the Demorats are 52% approve, 45% disapprove (plus 7 points).

*Only 38% of Virginians are following the General Assembly races "closely," with 62% "not closely." Only 10% are following them "very closely," compared to 27% who are following them "not at all." In stark contrast, 74% of Virginians are following the 2008 presidential race "closely."

*Among "likely voters," 50% would like to see Democrats in control of the General Assembly after November, compared to 42% who want Republicans in charge.

*Among likely voters, 56% say they are LESS LIKELY to vote for a candidate who backs Virginia's "abuser fees," with 19% saying "more likely" and 23% "no difference." On illegal immigration, 60% of likely voters say they would be "more likely" to support a candidate who supports taking strong action against illegal immigrants, with just 17% saying it would make them "less likely."

*Only 11% of Virginians say traffic has gotten better the past 5 years, with 62% saying it has gotten worse.

*Virginians oppose the abuser fees by a nearly 2:1 margin, 63% against and 34% in favor.

Comments

Interesting (truthseeker - 10/14/2007 6:57:34 AM)

2 things for each "side"

People prefer the Ds to the Rs

People prefer the R major issue over the D major issue (its actually kind of silly to actually call them major issues but whatever)

Thanks for highlighting all the partisan D points Lowell :-p

Not sure what you're talking about. (Lowell - 10/14/2007 7:08:36 AM)

The Post poll indicated that voters prefer Democrats on taxes (45%-37%), immigration (41%-33%), and Iraq (43%-36%). They prefer Republicans on "the U.S. campaign against terrorism" by 2 points (40%-38%). That's three issues for Democrats by 7-point or 8-point margins, one issue for Republicans by 2 points.

Overall, Virginians want Democrats in charge of the General Assembly by a 50%-38% margin among all Virginians and by a 50%-42% margin among likely voters.

Likely voters approve of Democrats in the state legislature by a 7-point margin (52%-45%) while they disapprove of Republicans by a 16-point margin (40%-56%).

Only 35% of Virginians approve of President Bush, while 63% disapprove.

Mark Warner would beat Jim Gilmore 61%-31% for U.S. Senate.

Virginians also favor a Democrat for president in 2008, by a 52%-41% margin.

This poll is overwhelmingly favorable to Democrats. If I were a Republican right now, I would not be happy in the least.

I was only talking about the election in 2007 (truthseeker - 10/14/2007 7:13:20 AM)

The republican main issue is more popular than the democratic main issue

It will be interesting to see the results of the Rust race compared to previous elections. (IMHO he will still win but it will be tighter) I think that is one race where the abuser fee issue will have somewhat of an impact

It will be harder to judge what impact the illegal immigration issue will have

I agree that overall its not a very good R environment

Corey Stewart, Immigration Reform Personified (jsrutstein - 10/14/2007 11:58:43 AM)

Actually, three weeks from this coming Tuesday, in Prince William County, we'll have a very good measure of how PWC voters feel about the immigration issue. I don't know why he did it (if it's because he has aspirations to succeed Rep. Tom Davis in VA-11, look for my new blog, anybodybutstewart.com), but Chairman Stewart has made this coming election day a referendum on him. I'm a newcomer to PWC politics, but Pandak would have to be the worst candidate ever (and I doubt that she is) to keep me from voting for her, if only to make clear that I reject hate and strongly disapprove of the direction Stewart has taken PWC.

Interesting Divide (WMTribe - 10/14/2007 1:20:09 PM)

Very interesting divide between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. Here's how the issues ranked as the top two issues compare for the two regions:

Transportation:
Northern Virginia: 52% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 25%

Economy/Jobs:
Northern Virginia: 11% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 23%

Health Care:
Northern Virginia: 4% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 22%

Illegal Immigration:
Northern Virginia: 31% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 11%

Crime:
Northern Virginia: 2% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 10%

Environment:
Northern Virginia: 12% of likely voters
Rest of Virginia: 4%

Very interesting to see the contrast between Northern Virginia focused on transportation, illegal immigration, and the environment, while the rest of Virginia focuses more on the economy, health care, and crime.

But not surprising (tx2vadem - 10/14/2007 11:38:51 PM)

I think more helpful would have been a split between Virginia's urban areas and its rural ones. Lumping the rest of Virginia together doesn't really present a fair picture of whether urban residents in the rest of the state agree with urban residents in Northern Virginia. Equally, urban issues are naturally different from rural ones (though you always have common concerns like education).

On the differences, I don't think any are surprising. They simply reflect the diverse, congested, economic-powerhouse that is Northern Virginia.

Clarify Your Message (Teddy - 10/14/2007 5:00:04 PM)

Democrats: clarify and intensify your message. Contrast the Democratic party with the Republicans, and emphasize everywhere that Democrats stand for competenct government, fiscal responsibility, and fairness whereas Republicans have had ample time both nationally and locally to prove how incompetent, spendthrift, unfair and ugly they are when put into positions of power... Republicans cannot lead and cannot be trusted. Tie local republicans to the Bush "legacy," don't let them run away from their true record of corruption and incompetence. Every Democrat should be sure this message is delivered, and then those involved in local races can get down to basic details on whatever are the local concerns.

In other words,I'd like to see a two-tiered cmpaign by all Democrats tailored to tie Republicans to their sorry, corrupt record over-all, and then help the locals deal with local issues.