POLL: NY TIMES/CBS before Debate 1

September 26, 2008
NY TIMES/CBS POLLS
DAHLIA SUSSMAN

"More voters expressed confidence in Senator John McCain's ability to deal with national security and foreign policy issues than in that of Senator Barack Obama."

By a margin of 23 points, voters were more likely to say Mr. McCain was very knowledgeable about world affairs than they were about Mr. Obama, and 21 points more apt to say it was very likely Mr. McCain would be an effective commander in chief. Voters were also much more likely to express confidence in Mr. McCain's ability to protect the country from a terrorist attack.

Of course, they chose selective graphics and leave the reader to go look at a pdf file...so I figured there would be some interesting tidbits and there were.

I found this most interesting...
Biden Favorable 33 Not favorable 17 Undecided 18 Haven't heard enough 32
Palin Favorable 37 Not favorable 29 Undecided 14 Haven't heard enough 18
32% haven't heard enough from Biden to make an opinion. Meaning not heard enough of him or heard from him but not enough about what he was supposed to say?

How knowledgeable of world affairs?
McCain Very 45 Somewhat 42 Not too 7 Not at all 3 (87/10)
Obama Very 22 Somewhat 51 Not too 17 Not at all 5 (73/22)

How confident are you in the candidate's ability to make the right decisions about the economy?
McCain Very 17 Somewhat 38 Not too 25 Not at all 20 (55/45)
Obama Very 29 Somewhat 35 Not too 20 Not at all 14 (64/34
2/20-24 Very 20 Somewhat 46 Not too 19 Not at all 12 (66/31)
So, in seven months, Very/Somewhat went from 66-64 and Not too/Not at all 31-34. The economy has tanked completely and BO is no more trusted than he was then.

How confident are you in the candidate's ability to deal wisely with an international crisis?
McCain Confidence 49 Uneasy 47
Obama Confidence 41 Uneasy 53
2/20-24 Confidence 47 Uneasy 47
So, seven months ago, more people were confident 47/41 and less uneasy 47/53 in BO's ability to deal with international crisis. Scary.

Effective as Commander-in-Chief?
McCain Very Likely 48 Somewhat 29 Not too 11 Not at all 8 (77/19)
Obama Very Likely 27 Somewhat 35 Not too 20 Not at all 16 (62/36)
2/20-24 Very Likely 23 Somewhat 46 Not too 15 Not at all 13 (69/28)
So, in seven months, Obama's very/somewhat likely went down 69-62 and not too/at all went up from 28-36. Scary. Guess that trip didn't help as much as he paid for it. Landstuhl and that picture of him in Iowa are hard to forget. Sen Clinton trounced him on C-I-C like 90-10.

How confident are you in the candidate's ability to make the right decisions about the war in Iraq?
McCain Very 30 Somewhat 28 Not too 20 Not at all 21 (58/41)
Obama Very 26 Somewhat 30 Not too 24 Not at all 18 (56/42)
2/20-24 Very 20 Somewhat 37 Not too 21 Not at all 19 (57/40)
So, nothing has changed in seven months, except he has developed the "good judgment" to realize his Iraq story was indeed a fairy tale. But it took Bill O'Reilly to make him admit that the Surge succeeded beyond our wildest dreams".

How confident are you in the candidate's ability to make the right decisions about foreign policy issues?
McCain Very 23 Somewhat 44 Not too 19 Not at all 13 (67/32)
Obama Very 24 Somewhat 38 Not too 23 Not at all 12 (62/35)
Obama Very 20 Somewhat 37 Not too 21 Not at all 19 (57/40)
So, in seven months and with the addition of Joe Biden only 5% are more confident in Obama's ability to make the right decisions about foreign policy.

If elected president, would the candidate make the US's image in the world better, worse or would it have no effect? (Question asked to favor non-incumbent party-Obama.)
McCain Better 23 No effect 43 Worse 26
Obama Better 53 No effect 29 Worse 12

Kind of person who is able to admit he made mistake? (New question - as close as they can get to "irrationality" or senility.)
McCain Yes 49 No 38 NA 13
Obama Yes 60 NO 27 NA 12

What would concern you more about the candidate's handling of problems with other countries?
Too quick to take military action?
McCain 63
Obama 10
Spend too much time on diplomacy?
McCain 17
Obama 67
Neither/No opinion
McCain 20
Obama 23

How confident are you in candidate's ability to make the right decision when it comes to protecting the US from a terrorist attack?
McCain Very 40 Somewhat 35 Not too 13 Not at all 10 (75-23)
Obama Very 28 Somewhat 32 Not too 20 Not at all 17 (60-37)
I don't even want to comment on this one.

*Polls 9/21-24
936 adults, including 844 registered voters.
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
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MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell is talking to Dr Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations. (How many foreign relations committees/councils do we have?) She asked what are the biggest differences between the world view of Obama & McCain?

Dr Haass said Barack Obama favors diplomacy and a willingness to work with adversaries and John McCain seems to be taking a more MUSCULAR approach. Interesting word, eh?