Zogby Poll: McCain Seen as Better Military Commander-in-Chief; Obama Preferred as Manager & Problem Solver
UTICA, New York - Twice as many likely voters see Republican John McCain as a better commander-in-chief of America's armed forces than Democrat Barack Obama, but they prefer Obama as a competent manager, problem solver and as someone who understands the average person, the latest Zogby Interactive poll shows. The online survey of 2,331 likely voters nationwide, conducted Sept. 19-20, 2008, carries a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. The same survey showed the Obama-Biden ticket leading McCain-Palin 47%-44% in the straight-up horserace question, with 9% other/not sure. The four qualities mentioned above were all rated as very or somewhat important by more than 93% of voters. The two other qualities we asked about, having Christian values and being able to win the support from the other party in Congress, rated lower in importance. Here is how the qualities and candidates were rated: How important is it that the next President . . . : Very or Somewhat Important Somewhat or Very Unimportant Obama Is Best McCain Is Best Be a competent manager 98% 2% 46% 40% Can command the military 93% 7% 29% 61% Understand people like you & me 93% 6% 47% 34% Win support from other party in Congress 84% 16% 42% 47% Be a problem solver 97% 2% 46% 42% Have Christian values 53% 45% 36% 40% On most of these questions, we found consistent differences based on age, religion and race, with older, more religious and white voters favoring McCain. Also, McCain was consistently preferred by those in families earning $75,000-$100,000. By contrast, Obama won more support on most questions from younger respondents, less-affluent voters, and minority respondents, and among those less likely to attend church services. For example, the table below looks at all six qualities and abilities and aggregates which candidate is preferred, comparing age and church attendance, and also includes the pro-McCain $75,000 - $100,000 income group. The percentage shown is the average for all six: Sub-groups: an aggregation of presidential qualities: Avg. for McCain Avg. for Obama Avg. not sure Voters who attend church weekly or more 57% 28% 15% Voters who rarely or never attend church 34% 47% 19% Voters ages 18-29 39% 41% 20% Voters ages 65+ 61% 30% 9% Voters with household income $75,000-$100,00 53% 36% 11% We asked four of these same questions about the importance of particular qualities in a telephone poll in May, 2007. The percentage of voters saying that Christian values was important has dropped 17 points from 70% to 53%. Also dropping was the percentage of respondents who said it was important to win support from lawmakers of the other political party, which fell 16 points from 93% to 77%. Commanding the military and being a competent manager changed only slightly. Pollster John Zogby: "A nation at war and in economic turmoil is focusing on those candidate qualities that address those concern - hence the drop in importance for Christian values. The McCain advantage as commander-in-chief is a given, even among many Obama supporters. Obama's 11-point lead on the question of 'who best understands the average person' could be significant when the economy is Issue Number One. He also leads, but by smaller margins, as a problem solver and manager, which also are very important to voters who are worried about pocketbook issues. McCain's base voters are clearly frequent church-goers, seniors and upper middle income earners." For a complete methodological statement on this survey, please visit: http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.cfm?ID=1335 (9/23/2008)